Fed; Troops in Iraq becoming the problem, not solution - Latham

AAP General News (Australia)
04-13-2004
Fed; Troops in Iraq becoming the problem, not solution - Latham

PERTH, April 13 AAP - Leaving Australia's troops in Iraq was creating problems rather
than solving them, Opposition Leader Mark Latham said today.

Speaking at the start of a three-day tour of Western Australia, Mr Latham reiterated
his calls for Australian troops to be withdrawn from Iraq.

"We need an exit strategy because what has happened is similar to the situation in
the Vietnam War where the military occupation becomes more the problem than the solution,"

he told Perth FM radio 94.5.

"You need a strategy to return Iraq to the Iraqi people.

"The fact that there has been an uprising about the military occupation tells you that
you need an exit strategy and the Labor Party thinks that can be achieved by Christmas."

Mr Latham said leaving Australian troops in Iraq indefinitely was not the answer.

He called on Prime Minister John Howard to acknowledge the "mistake he made in the
first place of going to war".

By developing an exit strategy, Australia would be a part of Iraq's transition to self-government,
Mr Latham said.

Mr Latham will stage a community forum in Perth today after meeting small business owners.

AAP hn/it/bwl

KEYWORD: IRAQ AUST LATHAM

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