Lyn Allison (Victoria, Australian Democrats) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister. Is the minister aware that this week Britain’s new Army chief said that UK forces should leave Iraq soon because they are making the security problem there worse? Our own General Cosgrove now says that it is pretty obvious that the jihadist movement has been energised through the protracted war in Iraq. Is the minister aware that 500 Iraqi civilians are being killed every week, that attacks on US troops have increased by 43 per cent and that the Johns Hopkins University says that around 655,000 civilians have died since the invasion? This morning, Mr Howard said that Australian troops will leave Iraq only when he is satisfied that Iraq is stable. If our presence in Iraq is currently creating violent chaos, what is the coalition of the willing going to do differently to make Iraq stable? What exactly is the plan?