Australia questions U.S. devotion

SYDNEY, Australia — Australians are beginning to ask whether Washington is taking them for granted after the post of U.S. ambassador to Canberra has stood vacant for more than a year.

The feeling was not eased when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice canceled a scheduled visit last month, saying she had to stand by in case the stricken Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon took a turn for the worse.

Two months earlier, Miss Rice sent her deputy, Robert B. Zoellick, to fill in for her at annual ministerial-level talks, which were attended by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

Australia, a stalwart U.S. ally in the war on terrorism, has been waiting for a new U.S. ambassador since Thomas Schieffer departed at the end of 2004 to become ambassador to Japan, and the absence has begun to excite comment in newspapers and television.

Former Australian Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Dibb wrote in the Australian recently that Washington’s attention appears to be elsewhere.

“It is a reflection of the greater geopolitical importance of the Middle East in Washington,” he said.

Australian reporters pressed Foreign Minister Alexander Downer on the issue when he visited Washington for talks in mid-January.

“We would like them to appoint an ambassador as soon as possible,” he told Australian reporters after meeting with Miss Rice.

“Obviously, there have been some — how can I put it — there have been some difficulties that they have encountered in relation to potential appointments, which are really not for us. That’s a matter for them,” he said.

“That would be very undiplomatic for me to start to canvass the issues. That’s a matter for the Americans.”

The Sydney Morning Herald said Mr. Schieffer, a personal friend of President Bush’s, had suggested before his departure that he thought the White House was looking for a candidate who would be equally close to the president.

“It’s not a want of trying,” said an unidentified source quoted by the Australian. “I believe a couple of people have been approached.”

There is no suggestion that the delay reflects a problem in the bilateral relationship. Prime Minister John Howard has been a firm supporter of the U.S. missions in Iraq and Afghanistan and talks frequently by telephone with Mr. Bush.

“It’s a relationship made in heaven for Howard, who visits the White House as often as he is able,” said James Jupp, a professor of politics at the Australian National University.

“The problem … is mainly a matter of loss of face for the Australians, and is principally a matter of prestige because they are the closest ally of the U.S. here in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific combined.”

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