Troops Back Libs On Iraq, Says Nelson

Troops Back Libs On Iraq, Says Nelson

The Age

Tuesday September 4, 2007

By Michelle Grattan, Political Editor

THE Government has played the "digger card" - claiming Australia's troops are unhappy with Kevin Rudd's plan to pull them out of Iraq - as the pre-election debate over the war escalates ahead of this week's APEC leaders' summit.

Defence Minister Brendan Nelson and Prime Minister John Howard led a concerted attack on Labor over its Iraq troops policy on the eve of US President George Bush's arrival in Sydney tonight for the summit.

Mr Howard will be hoping that his role as host of the summit will provide an urgently needed reversal in his political stocks after another disastrous slump in the opinion polls for himself and the Coalition .

The latest Newspoll, published today, shows that Labor's two-party lead has widened to a staggering 18 points - 59 per cent to 41 per cent. Mr Rudd's rating as preferred prime minister has also improved two points to a commanding 48 per cent, against Mr Howard's 37 per cent (down two.)

Yesterday, in a bid to seize the political initiative for the Coalition ahead of APEC, Dr Nelson lamented that the Opposition Leader "won't actually listen to the soldiers who are on the ground - who, by the way, I can tell you want to finish the job".

He told the ABC that the soldiers were "quite angry" about the notion of being removed before the job was completed.

Dr Nelson's view was backed by heads of the Australia Defence Association and the Returned Services League. But they also criticised the minister for politicising Australia's troops.

Neil James, executive director of the Australia Defence Association, said there was a "growing divergence between the opinion of the troops as to the success and worth of the mission, and that of the population at home".

But Mr James said that while Dr Nelson's observation was correct - although some individual soldiers might have different views - "it's not necessarily helpful, because it needlessly politicises the military's general viewpoint on the issue".

RSL president Bill Crews said troops should not be politicised. "We don't want them to feel like they are caught up in this, even though the issue will naturally be a political discussion point."

But Major-General Crews said he believed most troops would be "quite anxious to see through the job that they have been involved with for a long time".

Dr Nelson's attack came as Foreign Minister Alexander Downer accused Mr Rudd of going back on an earlier undertaking to consult with the US on withdrawing troops. "Now he's going to make it clear that he doesn't care what President Bush says," Mr Downer said.

He also accused Labor foreign affairs spokesman Robert McClelland of "bagging what our troops have been doing".

Ramping up the US alliance issue before Mr Bush's arrival, Mr Howard said the essential difference between the Government and Labor was the Coalition believed Australia should stand by a friend in need when it was not against the national interest to do so.

Mr Rudd said the main difference was that Labor had a "clear-cut plan" for a staged, negotiated withdrawal. "Mr Howard has no such plan," he said.

Mr Rudd hit back at Dr Nelson, calling him the "least qualified person" to be Australia's defence minister.

He referred to the minister's recent remarks linking participation in Iraq to the need for oil and said: "Mr Nelson has no credibility when it comes to national security policy matters," he said.

Mr Rudd welcomed the coming signing of a US-Australia security technology pact, saying: "One of the reasons I support the alliance is that we have access to US intelligence."

Mr Howard said he would discuss with Mr Bush the best assessment he has from the US military commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, and other sources about how the troop "surge" is going.

The Iraq debate came as Chinese President Hu Jintao flew into Perth last night, becoming the first major leader to arrive in Australia for APEC. With climate change shaping up as Mr Howard's biggest challenge at APEC, China will be a central player in determining how much is achieved.

As Sydney braced itself for massive protests, Mr Howard again criticised demonstrators, saying the security clampdown was "the fault of people who threaten violence".

Mr Rudd said "any violent protest should be met with the full force of the law".

Greens leader Bob Brown also called for no violence, but accused political leaders of committing their own violence by allowing poverty and war.

INSIDE

APEC Hopes on climate PAGE 6

WORLD Britain leaves Basra PAGE 7

OPINION Editorial, Letters PAGE 10