Bush Loses Iraq Ally as Australian Troops Pull Out

Source: Al-Manar TV, 02-06-2008
US President George W. Bush lost a close ally in the Iraq war as Australian combat troops pulled out Monday to honor an election pledge by the new centre-left government.
As the Australian flag was lowered in southern Iraq, the conservative former leader John Howard, ousted by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd last November, defended his decision to commit the nation to war. "I firmly believe it was the right thing to have done," said Howard, one of Bush's staunchest supporters in the occupation so-called "coalition of the willing" which invaded Iraq in March 2003.
Howard acknowledged, however, that the cost of the war had been "very, very heavy and much greater than anybody would have liked."
The former leader was speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald in a rare post-election interview as Australia's 550-strong combat force began leaving its base at Tallil, some 300 kilometres (1,875 miles) south of Baghdad.
For his part, Defense Minister Joel Fitzgibbon told a news conference it was the "right time" to pull the troops out, adding that the military was overstretched by commitments in Iraq, Afghanistan and East Timor.
Opinion polls had shown that most Australians opposed the country's involvement in Iraq, and Bush dubbed Howard a "man of steel" for his commitment despite the war's unpopularity among voters.