Bush team pushes to split Labor
By Roy Eccleston and John Kerin
July 08, 2004
THE Bush administration says Opposition Leader Mark Latham has divided the ALP with his push to withdraw troops from Iraq, as senior US officials continue to lobby Canberra to maintain a strong military presence.
"You know as well as I do the Labor Party is split on this issue," US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told Australian reporters in Washington yesterday ahead of a meeting of Australian and US foreign and defence ministers.
Citing recent meetings he had held with unnamed Australian political visitors in Washington, Mr Armitage said it was clear there were deep divisions within Labor.
"They were private discussions and they'll remain private but I must say it looked to me like the party is rent down the middle," he said.
Labor figures who were at the Australian-American Leadership Dialogue in Washington last month either rejected Mr Armitage's claims or declined to comment last night.
http://www.myantiwar.org/view/23035.html