Latham defies Bush on Iraq
By Mark Metherell and Louise Dodson in Washington June 5, 2004
The Opposition Leader, Mark Latham, has refused to give ground after an unprecedented attack by President George Bush over his pledge to withdraw Australian troops from Iraq, plunging Labor's relations with the US to a new low. "Nothing President Bush has said today changes our hopes and expectations about the future," Mr Latham said after Mr Bush described Labor's proposed pull-out as "disastrous" and implied that he should not be elected prime minister. "Labor never wanted the troops there in the first place. We intend to have them home by Christmas." Analysts described Mr Bush's strong attack on Labor policy at a White House press conference with the Prime Minister, John Howard, as an unprecedented intervention in Australian domestic politics that would put the alliance under strain if Mr Latham and Mr Bush won elections later this year. Mr Latham issued a declaration on Iraq policy, repeating Labor's claims that the Government's policies were making Australia a bigger target and diverting resources from the "real" war on terrorism. He also said the recent revelations of prisoner abuses had given terrorists the best recruitment campaign they could wish for, that Australian troops had been sent to war "for reasons that were not true", and the war was contributing to higher petrol prices. Mr Latham restated his position that Labor supported the alliance but reserved its right to disagree over Iraq. "Labor strongly supports the American alliance first established by the Curtin Labor Government during World War II." In Washington, Mr Howard called on Mr Latham to address the issues raised when Mr Bush said Labor's withdrawal pledge would embolden terrorists and reveal the West as weak. "Mr Latham has not addressed the issues raised by Mr Bush - he should do so." He defended Mr Bush's strong condemnation of Labor's promise to withdraw the troops, saying "obviously he feels very strongly, and I understand that". Mr Howard insisted that the words were Mr Bush's and denied that Labor's position on Iraq had been canvassed during his 1 hour meeting with the President immediately before. But sources at the meeting said the leaders had discussed their political opponents - Democrat John Kerry and Mark Latham - and domestic politics in their respective countries. A leading strategic analyst, Hugh White, said Mr Bush's comments were unprecedented and foreshadowed problems for the alliance if Mr Latham and Mr Bush won the elections. "What does Bush expect to happen if Latham wins the election?" said Mr White, head of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and a former head of strategy in the Defence Department. " I think he has made it much harder for Latham to compromise by going in so hard. It's quite a worrying development."
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http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/06/04/1086203627741.html?from=top5