Media Release
11 May 2004

Nuclear Deception And Learning On The Job

President Bush and his embattled Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld have enough problems right now without having Don Brash in Washington without the guiding hand of a responsible adult, says New Zealand First leader Winston Peters.

Mr Peters was responding to reports of Dr Brash’s intention to visit Washington and other major centres without Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials being present

“Running back to Washington to tell them he didn’t really mean what he has been saying publicly at home and that he really will ditch New Zealand’s nuclear policy spells out clearly to New Zealanders his true agenda.”

“This is an ill-equipped National leader who continues to demonstrate the problems of learning on the job,” said Mr Peters.

“Clearly, he has not learned from his ill-fated predecessor that indecision on foreign policy and other significant policy matters is not only terminal at home, but embarrasses New Zealand internationally.

Mr Peters said anyone who found Dr Brash lost in the halls of power in Washington could send him on to Iraq where he could see for himself the results of blindly following America and Britain into battle – a position he advocated last year.

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>