Rupert Murdoch, who is receiving the Atlantic Council of the United
> States=92 Distinguished Business Leader Award for 2008, says in his
> prepared remarks that, =93We must face up to a painful truth: Europe no
> longer has either the political will or social culture to support
> military engagements in defense of itself and its allies."
>
> [snip]
>
> =93Around the world, there is no shortage of nations who share our
> values, and are willing to defend them. I am thinking of countries
> like Australia, which sent troops to Iraq =85 Israel, which has been
> fighting Islamic terrorism almost since its founding =85 and Japan,
> which generally follows a more =91Western=92 policy than most of Western
> Europe.=94
>
> [Snickers from the audience :-]
Rupert Murdoch tells politicians what they want to hear, and they let him publish his newspapers who in turn publish the sorts of news that their local politicians like to see in the newspapers - nothing that looks much like muck-raking. If Murdoch had owned the Washington Post, Nixon would have got a free ride.
-- Bill Sloman, Nijmegen