US Senator Barack Obama has accused John Howard of 'empty rhetoric' on Iraq after the Australian Prime Minister attacked his campaign for the US presidency in 2008.
Mr Howard said that the plan of Mr Obama to get US troops out of Iraq by 31 March next year would seal a US defeat and be embraced as a victory by terrorists.
'If I were running al-Qaeda in Iraq, I would put a circle around March 2008 and be praying as many times as possible for a victory not only for Obama but also for the Democrats,' Mr Howard said.
Mr Obama said that he was flattered that an ally of the US President, George W Bush, on the other side of the world started attacking him the day after he launched his campaign for the presidency.
'I would also note that we have close to 140,000 troops on the ground now, and my understanding is Mr Howard has deployed 1,400, so if he is to fight the good fight in Iraq, I would suggest that he calls up another 20,000 Australians and sends them to Iraq,' Mr Obama said.
Mr Howard has responded to the remarks, saying the Australian deployment was a 'very significant and appropriate contribution' given his country's population of just 20m.
Mr Obama has opposed what he terms a 'tragic' war in Iraq from the start, and is seeking to leverage the issue to the disadvantage of Democratic rivals like Senator Hillary Clinton who voted in 2002 to authorise Mr Bush to wage war.
