Free Republic

Prime Minister John Howard has defended his comments about United States presidential candidate Barack Obama's proposed policies. The spat erupted when Democrat Senator Obama said he would like US troops out of Iraq by March 2008. Mr Howard responded by saying that if he ran Al Qaeda, he would put a circle around March next year and pray for Mr Obama to win. The attack on Senator Obama's plan has upset several US Democrats, including Senator Ron Wyden, who believes Mr Howard is meddling in US politics. But Mr Howard says he will continue to criticise policies that work against...

THE Prime Minister has fired another salvo in his growing war of words with US presidential hopeful Barack Obama, saying the senator had dodged his criticism of his Iraq withdrawal plan. Senator Obama today challenged John Howard to commit another 20,000 Australian troops to Iraq after the Prime Minister said his call to bring American troops home by March 2008 would be a victory for al Qaeda in Iraq, who would be hoping for a Democrat win in next year's presidential election. The US senator accused Mr Howard of "empty rhetoric" in his criticism of his stand, as Australia has...