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US 'endangers Australians'
Roy Eccleston, Washington correspondent
September 18, 2004
JOHN Kerry's campaign has warned Australians that the Howard Government's support for the US in Iraq has made them a bigger target for international terrorists.
Diana Kerry, younger sister of the Democrat presidential candidate, told The Weekend Australian that the Bali bombing and the recent attack on the Australian embassy in Jakarta clearly showed the danger to Australians had increased.
"Australia has kept faith with the US and we are endangering the Australians now by this wanton disregard for international law and multilateral channels," she said, referring to the invasion of Iraq.
Asked if she believed the terrorist threat to Australians was now greater because of the support for Republican George W. Bush, Ms Kerry said: "The most recent attack was on the Australian embassy in Jakarta -- I would have to say that."
Ms Kerry, who taught school in Indonesia for 15 years until 2000, is heading a campaign called Americans Overseas for Kerry which aims to secure the votes of Americans abroad -- including the more than 100,000 living in Australia.
In the 2000 election, analysts say absentee votes cast overseas tipped the balance to Mr Bush in the decisive state of Florida. Domestic votes put Mr Gore ahead by a few hundred votes, but Mr Bush won by 537 after overseas ballots were included.
In this election, which is decided according to the states won, the Kerry campaign says overseas votes could also determine the result given there are a dozen states where victory might be measured by a few hundred to a few thousand votes. About 5million American voters live overseas and interest in this election was high, Ms Kerry said. About 350,000 absentee ballots were distributed in 2000, but more than a million had been sought this time.
"My belief is US citizens living overseas are very concerned about the current direction of the US, particularly in regard to international affairs," she claimed. "They are on the front lines of the decline of US respect and reputation; they hear it and feel it on a daily basis."
A poll by the Washington-based Pew Centre for People and the Press found that in March this year only 58 per cent of Britons, 37 per cent of French and 38 per cent of Germans had favourable opinions of America, down by more than 20 percentage points in each country from before the Iraq war.
Quizzed on US opinion polls that showed Senator Kerry's campaign flagged through August and that he was now running behind Mr Bush, Ms Kerry said her brother would win the November 2 election.
"He responds well to challenges and has the reputation of fighting well from behind," she said.
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