Asia-Pacific News
Australia maintains rage against Obama's Iraq policy
By DPA
Feb 12, 2007, 0:03 GMT

Sydney - The Australian government Monday continued its attack on United States presidential hopeful Barack Obama despite charges it was interfering in domestic affairs.

'It's entirely appropriate the Australian government expresses its view in a free world,' Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said in response to criticism at home and abroad that Prime Minister John Howard had crossed the line into domestic politics when condemning Obama for advocating withdrawal of US troops from Iraq by 2008.

'You won't get anywhere trying to close down debate.'

Echoing Howard, Downer said that 'a precipitous withdrawal by the United States from Iraq would be a catastrophe.'

Speaking on Sunday, Howard said that putting Obama in the White House would hand a victory to terrorists.

Obama has urged a withdrawal of US troops from Iraq by March 2008, eight months before the November 2008 presidential elections.

'I think that would just encourage those who wanted completely to destabilize and destroy Iraq and create chaos and victory for the terrorists to hang on and hope for an Obama victory,' Howard said.

'If I was running al-Qaeda in Iraq, I'd put a circle around March 2008 and pray as many times as possible for a victory not only for Obama but also for the Democrats,' he added.

The opposition Labor Party has called on Howard to retract his criticism of Obama, alleging that it put Australia's defence alliance with the US at risk.

'The prime minister's partisan attack on Mr Obama and the Democratic Party risks the strength of the US alliance,' Labor leader Kevin Rudd said.

Rudd, who is to face Howard in a general election later this year, opposed the commitment of Australian troops to the invasion of Iraq but has been coy in proposing a timetable for their withdrawal.

Howard, described by US President George W Bush as a 'man of steel' for sending troops, trails in opinion polls that consistently show widespread opposition in Australia to the war in Iraq.

Obama, a first-term senator from Illinois, hit back at Howard, describing his criticism as 'empty rhetoric.'

Obama was quoted as saying: 'I would also note that we have close to 140,000 troops in Iraq, and my understanding is Mr Howard has deployed 1,400, so if he is ... to fight the good fight in Iraq, I would suggest that he calls up another 20,000 Australians and sends them to Iraq.'

Downer responded on behalf of the government, saying a commitment of 20,000 troops would be impossible for Australia.

'That would be half of our army,' Downer said. 'Australia is a much smaller country than the United States and so he might like to weigh that up.'