Don't over-react, says Howard Army personnel featured in a wild video in which one soldier appears dressed in a Ku Klux Klan outfit were only letting of a "bit of steam'', Prime Minister John Howard says.
The video, posted on the YouTube website, features soldiers at Darwin's Robertson Barracks taking part in drinking games and stunts, with one dressed in a KKK outfit.
Mr Howard today urged the public not to over-react.
"I have some understanding of the disposition of people in these situations to let off a bit of steam,'' he said.
The prime minister said whether or not to discipline the soldiers who featured in the video was a matter for the military to decide.
"Let the military deal with those things in their own way,'' he said.
"I just think people can over-react with these things. People get into a lather and sweat and so on ... let's be sensible about this.
...Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said he would wait for the chief of army to investigate the matter.
"Let's just wait until the chief of army and the military investigate the matter before we start jumping to conclusions and start to criticise the men who appear to have been involved," he told ABC radio.
"I suspect a lot of it is letting off steam and a bit of larrikin irreverence and I also suspect some of it has crossed the line and is quite inappropriate and the chief of army will deal with appropriately and I look forward to receiving his report."
The video, titled My Experience in the Australian Army, showed a group of young recruits playing drinking games and vomiting.
Some were in army uniform, and an image of one dressed as a Ku Klux Klansman was flashed repeatedly through the footage, which was set to rock music.
The KKK is a terrorist organisation devoted to white supremacy, well even more, white supremacy. It is not proscribed under John Howard's terror legislation. Perhaps he overlooked it. Maybe it's a sign of how desperate he's getting. He's had to drop the dog whistle and try for the bull-horn. It's funny how I always get told anti-terror legislation isn't racist while organisations that firebomb places, beat people up and want to see me hung from a tree by my neck are free to recruit. I'm glad that leading lights like John Howard and what appears to be some sort of newly moulted cockroach don't seem to think it's a problem.
1 comments:
"I have some understanding of the disposition of people in these situations to let off a bit of steam"
The man has a point – some arsehole keeps sending them off to pointless, endless wars, I’m not surprised they rely on alcoholic binges to survive.
Alcohol may be the cause of Aboriginal woes, but it is the solution to the military’s problems. (A wise man once pointed out this phenomenon.)
And besides – the KKK can’t be terrorists, ya big silly – they’re white.
But, I really don’t see why this made headlines –this racism would have angered quite a few people, but it didn’t disrupt anyone’s life to any extent. However, if the media’s dedication to exposing racism is strong enough to run this story strongly, I do look forward to the 5 page spread every time anyone gets discriminated against.
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