By DPA
Singapore : Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Wednesday that it would be “madness” and “political stupidity” to suddenly pull Australian troops out of Iraq amid progress in the security situation of the war-torn country.
Downer, who is in Singapore to attend the East Asian Summit, warned that a drastic change in policy on Iraq could lead to the resurgence of violence in the country.
“It would be madness to change course dramatically on Iraq just as we’re making so much progress,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the summit.
“Let us make sure now that we are winning in Iraq that we don’t snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory by political stupidity,” he added. “It would be political stupidity to have a sudden and dramatic change in policy on Iraq.”
Downer noted that coalition forces were “at long last making real progress in Iraq” and should continue building on what has been achieved so far, particularly in the past six months.
“There is a very substantial decline in the level of violence in Iraq,” he said. “At least we’re starting to get on top of the terrible violence that’s been there in Iraq.
“The last thing we want is a sudden change, a 180-degree change of policy on Iraq, which would only lead to a regression back to the violence that we had before,” he added.
The continued stay of Australia’s 590 combat troops in Iraq has been a key issue in the campaign leading to Saturday’s general elections in Australia, where polls indicated Prime Minister John Howard, who sent the troops to Iraq, was headed for defeat.