Australia backs Bush on Iraq but won't boost troops
Source: Reuters
SYDNEY, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Australia, one of Washington's staunchest allies in the Iraq war, backed President George W. Bush's plan to send more troops but would contribute no more forces of its own, Prime Minister John Howard said on Thursday. "An American or Western defeat in Iraq will be an unbelievable boost to terrorism and if America is defeated in Iraq it is hard to see how the longer-term fight against terrorism can be won," he told reporters in Sydney, describing Australia's current level of about 1,400 troops in and around Iraq as "appropriate". Bush outlined a fresh infusion of troops in a war that has now lasted almost four years. Most of the extra 21,500 troops will be sent to Baghdad in an attempt to secure the Iraqi capital, with another 4,000 for the restive Anbar province in western Iraq.
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