Aussies' boomerang on Iraq

2004-05-04 07:03

Sydney - A majority of voters now believe Australia should not have joined the invasion of Iraq, a new poll showed on Tuesday.

The results come as Prime Minister John Howard plans a pre-election trip to the United States and Europe for talks on the war.

For the first time, the Newspoll published by The Australian newspaper showed 5O percent of voters now believe it was not worth going to war against 40 percent who believe it was justified.

A large majority of Australians - 64 percent - do not believe a democratic government will be established in Iraq within the next few years, with only 24 percent believing it is likely.

Leave them there

In the run-up to elections expected by November, the poll also showed 47 percent of voters back opposition Labour leader Mark Latham's pledge to withdraw the troops from Iraq by Christmas, with 45 percent backing Howard's decision to leave them there until the middle of next year.

According to the survey of 1 100 voters conducted last weekend, support for the war had dropped in recent weeks, and the government still trails Labour, by 52-48 percent in two party-preferred terms - all important in Australia's preferential voting system.

But as Labour maintained its electoral edge, Howard maintained a substantial lead over Latham as preferred prime minister - by 49 percent to 36.

Howard has vowed to keep the troops in Iraq "until their job is done", which he said last week meant they would remain until security is stabilised in the country.

Australia bolstered its contingent of 850 military personnel in Iraq by announcing it had sent another 40-strong specialist army training team with 13 security troops to help with the training of Iraq's new armed forces.

Howard announced this week that he will visit Washington and London for talks in the first week of June with US President George Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. The discussions are expected to deal mainly with the next stage of the Iraq reconstruction.

D-Day Landings

Howard will then attend the 60th anniversary commemoration of the D-Day landings in Normandy and is likely to take part in a major leaders' conference on Iraq, expected to be convened by world leaders in Paris after the Normandy celebrations.

Coming just weeks before the transfer of sovereignty to an Iraqi administration and amid growing concern over the reported abuses of Iraqi prisoners, the conference appears likely to become a mini-summit at which world leaders will have the chance to redefine attitudes to the occupation and reconstruction of Iraq.

"The visit will be an important opportunity to consult on major international issues such as the war against terrorism and Iraq," Howard said of his trip.

He will also lobby key congressional leaders for early passage through Congress of Australia's proposed free trade agreement with the United States.

- AFP