Aussie Opp. Leader does U-Turn

[DBAHO]

You prob heard Bush criticize this guy last week I think, don't forgot we hav an election end of this year as well.

 

OPPOSITION leader Mark Latham today backed away from his pledge to pull all Australian troops out of Iraq if he wins federal elections later this year - a move the government ridiculed as a policy "U-turn".

 

Asked if he would consider leaving a security detachment in Baghdad to protect Australia's diplomats, Latham said: "Yes, we've said consistently since March that we'd seek advice from the foreign affairs security people about what needs to be done."

 

"Whether that means leaving troops there or some other arrangement, we'll take advice when we come into government," he told Sydney radio station 2UE.

 

Australia currently has 850 troops in and around Iraq.

 

Iraq is likely to be a key issue in campaigning ahead of Australia's elections expected by the end of the year. Prime Minister John Howard is a strong supporter of the US-led campaign in Iraq and Latham a vocal opponent.

 

Australia's foreign minister accused Latham of making an "on-air U-turn" on Iraq.

 

"Highlighting his inexperience and inconsistency, Mr. Latham made the backflip just when his foreign affairs spokesman was in Washington telling the United States that Labor would cut and run by Christmas," Alexander Downer said in a statement.

 

Labor lawmaker Kevin Rudd has been meeting with Bush administration officials in the United States this week.

 

Latham has also come under fire from Washington for his anti-war stance.

 

"It would be disastrous for Australia to say: 'Well, we see this international consensus, we see this new resolution but we are going to head for the door,"' US Secretary of State Colin Powell told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. television Thursday in a reference to this week's UN Security Council resolution on Iraq.

 

"I don't think that's the Australia that I have known and respected for so many decades," Powell said.

 

But Latham was unshaken by the US criticism.

 

"I'm not getting into a debate with American policy, I'm just not," he told 2UE. "I'm interested in a debate with the Howard government on the policies that are relevant to Australia."

[Texsox]

Australia currently has 850 troops in and around Iraq.

850 Troops. We've had more than that killed in action.