Australian troops in Iraq had been belittled and insulted by Opposition Leader Mark Latham’s description of their presence there as symbolic, Prime Minister John Howard said today. Mr Latham said yesterday the government had changed its position several times on why the troops were there and how long they would stay, leading to fears that their commitment was political. He said the commitment was being driven by political timelines and being stretched for political or symbolic reasons.
Mr Howard said the description was inaccurate and insulting. He said the incident during his visit to Iraq on Anzac Day when the Australian frigate HMAS Stuart went to the aid of American troops under attack from terrorists showed the Australian presence was not symbolic. "Anybody who says that is symbolic doesn’t know what they are talking about," Mr Howard told ABC Radio in Brisbane.
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"You try and tell the crew of the Stuart that it was symbolic - you try and tell the Americans who were fished out of the water by that crew, by the rescuers from the Stuart that it was a purely symbolic act. "I think that is not only insulting, it is also ignorant."
Mr Howard said Australians were contributing very significantly to what was a very important exercise in Iraq. "The idea that we should pull out at the present time ... that would be sending a terrible signal not only to the people of Iraq but also to our allies.
| Which is exactly the point Labor wants to make, just like Zappie did in Spain. |
"It would give great comfort to those trying to deny the Iraqi people a democratic future. It would give great comfort to terrorists around the world (and) it would do great damage to the reliability and the reputation of Australia.
"But what is most reprehensible about what Mr Latham said is the apparent belittling of the role of our forces by saying their role is symbolic. That is insulting and it’s ignorant," Mr Howard said. |