Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
By ROD McGUIRK - Associated Press Writer
SYDNEY, Australia - (AP) Australians' support for the Iraq
war has fallen in the past year, with two-thirds now saying the war was not
worthwhile, according to results of a poll published Saturday.
The survey, conducted by Newspoll and published in The Australian
newspaper, was bad news for Prime Minister John Howard, a staunch U.S. ally
who has vowed to keep Australia's 1,320 troops in and around Iraq as long as
they are needed.
In the poll, 66 percent of Australians said they believed the war
was not worthwhile, up from 58 percent a year ago, the newspaper said. Just
27 percent believed the war was worthwhile, compared with 32 percent a year
earlier.
Among supporters of Howard's center-right government, those who back
the war had dropped from 50 percent to 43 percent in the past year.
The government must soon decide whether the task force's deployment
will be extended beyond its initial 12-month commitment that ends in May
2006. Howard sent 2,000 troops to support U.S. and British forces in the
Iraq invasion in March 2003.
Australia's involvement in the war has provoked the largest peace
rallies in the country since the Vietnam War, but Howard was re-elected with
an increased majority in 2004 elections.
The Newspoll was based on a national random telephone survey of
1,200 adults conducted last weekend. It had a 3 percentage point margin or
error.
SYDNEY, Australia - (AP) Australians' support for the Iraq
war has fallen in the past year, with two-thirds now saying the war was not
worthwhile, according to results of a poll published Saturday.
The survey, conducted by Newspoll and published in The Australian
newspaper, was bad news for Prime Minister John Howard, a staunch U.S. ally
who has vowed to keep Australia's 1,320 troops in and around Iraq as long as
they are needed.
In the poll, 66 percent of Australians said they believed the war
was not worthwhile, up from 58 percent a year ago, the newspaper said. Just
27 percent believed the war was worthwhile, compared with 32 percent a year
earlier.
Among supporters of Howard's center-right government, those who back
the war had dropped from 50 percent to 43 percent in the past year.
The government must soon decide whether the task force's deployment
will be extended beyond its initial 12-month commitment that ends in May
2006. Howard sent 2,000 troops to support U.S. and British forces in the
Iraq invasion in March 2003.
Australia's involvement in the war has provoked the largest peace
rallies in the country since the Vietnam War, but Howard was re-elected with
an increased majority in 2004 elections.
The Newspoll was based on a national random telephone survey of
1,200 adults conducted last weekend. It had a 3 percentage point margin or
error.
