"US and Australia, mates to the end"..Bill Clinton interview

[the Kelly Gang]

US and Australia, mates to the end
The US-Australia alliance is strong enough to survive election-season tensions, Bill Clinton tells Europe correspondent Peter Wilson in London

July 15, 2004

BILL Clinton believes Australia and the US have more in common than anything dividing them and that the alliance will survive any change of government in Canberra.

"It is inconceivable to me that we won't always, for the rest of my lifetime anyway, have more in common than could divide us. We cannot let our relationship ever (waste away). Australia and the US, if you think about all the things that could happen in the future - whether you agree with what we did in Iraq or not, or whether your policy changes with a change of government - the fundamental alliance between the United States and Australia should be maintained."

In an exclusive interview with The Australian, Mr Clinton urged Mark Latham and his Labor colleagues not to get too concerned about any attempts by the Bush administration to intervene in Australia's domestic debate about Iraq, saying they should rely on the independence of Australian voters.


http://theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,10141214%255E2703,00.html

[Wilber_Stool]

1. Ambassador to the world. n/t