BBC:
Mr Obama, who has described the Iraq war as “tragic”, said he was “flattered” by Mr Howard’s statement.
He said: “I think it’s flattering that one of George Bush’s allies on the other side of the world started attacking me the day after I announced.
“I would also note that we have close to 140,000 troops on the ground now, and my understanding is Mr Howard has deployed 1,400, so if he is (ready) to fight the good fight in Iraq, I would suggest that he calls up another 20,000 Australians and sends them to Iraq.”
“Otherwise it’s just a bunch of empty rhetoric,” he added.
How embarrassing!!! Our fading PM making such a statement. My apologies to Barrak Obama for such a stupid statement. Please excuse the idiot, we don’t all hold that view. I wish you well for your attempt to the presidency. Only one thing that pees me of is that the US must either charge our national David Hicks or send him home.
Paul
It doesn’t matter how many troops Barack Obama challenges Howard to send to Iraq.
I think Howard is more concerned about his own image back home if the US withdraws its troops and cuts its losses.
Bush is on his way out. Nothing can hurt him now. Howard has plenty to lose. And I’m sure he remembers all the Australians who were affected by the past bombings in Bali.
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I am an american living in Australia. I am pissed off that the PM here can say such crap. If it’s so important to Australia, then they should send more troops, or send the soldiers there into harms way. The 1400 AU troops there are in non combat zones, except for a couple special forces guys. How can Australia fight off terrorism when it’s not even in the fight? Come on Howard, if you can’t send more troops, then send the ones already there into Bagdhad, where they’ll make a difference. Or, you can just shut the hell up!!! It’s american that has nearly spent half a TRILLION dollars there, and it’s America who lost more than 3000 good men, with tens of thousands more wounded. Australia only lost 1 guy, when he accidently shot himself in the head.
I know that a vast majority of Aussies completely disagree with what Howard said, but this is the guy that keeps getting elected back into office. Howard, if you truly do believe in that crap which comes out of your mouth, then you need to forgo public opinion, like your buddy Bush, and however unpopular, send more AU troops into Iraq, and send them into Bagdhad or somewhere they can make a difference.