Howard: Leaving Iraq would be 'enormous blow' to US prestige
Australian Prime Minister John Howard today underscored his strong support for the Iraq war, saying pulling troops out of Iraq in circumstances that would be seen as a defeat would be an “enormous blow” to the United States and Australia.
But some observers have warned that Howard’s resolute support of the Iraq war in the wake of the US midterm elections could damage his popularity ahead of federal elections next year.
Howard, who calls US President George Bush a close friend and has been unwavering in his support of the war despite widespread opposition in Australia, acknowledged that the Congressional election results signalled dissatisfaction with the situation in Iraq.
“It would be an enormous blow to American prestige and it serves us nothing to see America humiliated, particularly given the importance of the United States in our region with all the challenges we face with countries like North Korea,” he said.
Howard said most Australians also were against the war but, “I don’t believe the majority of Australians are in favour of just getting out in a precipitous way.”
“They do recognise and accept that if the coalition leaves Iraq in circumstances which is seen as a defeat that would be incredibly bad for American authority and that in turn would be very bad for Australia,” Howard said.
Australia sent 2,000 troops to the March 2003 invasion, and maintains around 1,300 troops in the Middle East.
Howard, who faces an election next year, is Australia’s second-longest serving prime minister and has remained relatively popular in Australia despite widespread opposition to his Iraq policy.
A recent opinion poll found that 68 percent of voters believed Australia’s participation in the Iraq war has not been worth the effort, up from 34% in February 2004.
The prime minister has tied much of his own foreign policies to those favoured by Washington, a move that some political commentators warned today could sink Howard in the wake of this week’s Democratic landslide.
“George Bush is captain of a sinking political ship,” wrote Paul Kelly, an opinion writer for the national newspaper, The Australian. “The message for Australia is to beware being caught supporting policies that will sink with Bush.”
“Howard will have to watch what he says,” warned a headline in The Australian Financial Review newspaper today above a 2003 quote from Howard in which he said Australia’s links with Washington are “crucial to this nation’s future”.
Until recently, Howard had won political capital in Australia by forging stronger ties with Bush, but “Suddenly, the elections have stopped that perception of Bush as a winner,” said the editorial, by senior political correspondent Laura Tingle.
“Perhaps more importantly, the pressures Bush will now be under on Iraq will highlight to the rest of the world the extent to which the US’s global authority has been vandalised by the whole experiment,” it said.
