Referring to the various letters on Australian Prime Minister John Howard's threats to launch pre-emptive strikes, I personally think the statement is really a whole lot of hot-air, echoing the war cries from their super power trading partner.

I also think that the statement was necessary to impress upon the citizens of Australia that their government is not to be pushed around by the threat of terror, especially in the light of the Bali bombings.

I fully sympathise with the victims of the incident, but nonetheless, the Australian government should realise that the damage done by such blatant un-educated statements to Australian relationship with southeast Asian nations could outweigh whatever beneficial gain to Howard's political mileage internally.

Howling such war threats is unsophisticated and not suited to today's world. It does not have the desired effect, instead it only antagonises the intended targets. We all know that Australia does not have the capability to be colonisers. Australia can achieve more by showing respect to her neighbours.