Domestic politics shape Australian foreign policy

That Howard has had withdrawal in mind for some weeks is indicated by the fact that some of his trusted advisers have been put on notice to travel to Washington and New York next month to work out details for withdrawal and future policy relating to Iraq with US Agencies and Departments.

Issues surrounding the arrest and detention of Dr Haneef cannot be dismissed as bungling, overzealousness or undue pressure. They came into play as a consequence of an attempt to use Dr Haneef as a pawn in Howard’s domestic agenda.

Perhaps Howard thought the Indian Government would not see through his agenda but they did and in the nicest possible way they have expressed their outrage.

Howard’s timing of his use of Haneef as a domestic decoy could not have been worse.

With APEC just around the corner the skill of Indian diplomacy came to the fore and pressed a skillful and successful claim for negotiations over the sale of Australian uranium to be fast tracked with minimum international safeguards applying.

Unlike East Timor and countries in the Pacific, Indian is much harder to bully as Howard, Downer, Andrews and Keelty have discovered.