Australian PM faces storm over criticism of US candidate

SYDNEY

(AFP)

Australian Prime Minister John Howard has found himself at the centre of a political storm after criticising US presidential hopeful Barack Obama over his plans to pull troops from
Iraq'

The conservative leader earned a stinging rebuke from the popular Democratic senator and other US politicians, and faced a censure motion by the opposition in his own parliament.
Howard, a close ally of US
President George W. Bush' sparked the dispute on Sunday when he said Obama's plan to get US troops out of Iraq by March 31 next year would seal a US defeat and be welcomed 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," Howard told commercial television.

The Democratic Party's bright new hope reacted sharply to Howard's comments, scornfully suggesting that if the Australian leader was so keen on the Iraq war he should send in more troops.
"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 (ready) to fight the good fight in Iraq, I would suggest that he calls up another 20,000 Australians and sends them to Iraq.

"Otherwise it's just a bunch of empty rhetoric," Obama, 45, told reporters.
The 67-year-old Howard, who has been in power for nearly 11 years, fired back on Monday, saying the Australian deployment was a "very significant and appropriate contribution" given the country's population of just 20 million.

"I think the most interesting thing about (Obama's comments) is that it didn't really address the substance of the issue," Howard told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
But during question time in parliament later, Howard was given a rough ride by the new Labor Party opposition leader Kevin Rudd, who said his comments had endangered the future of Australia's alliance with the US.

Rudd charged that Howard had accused the Democratic Party in the US of being "the terrorists' party of choice."
Pointing out that the Democrats control the US Congress and could win the White House next year, Rudd described Howard's comments as "a grave mistake" and called on him to withdraw them.

When Howard refused, Rudd moved a motion to censure the prime minister, launching a major attack on his Iraq policy as "the greatest single foreign policy and national security disaster this country has seen since Vietnam."
Howard's Liberal-National coalition has a strong majority in parliament and the motion was defeated by 82 votes to 60, but not before the veteran leader was made to look unusually uncomfortable and defensive.

"I was not generically attacking the Democrats, but the last time I checked, Senator Obama was a member of the Democratic Party of the United States," he said.
"I don't apologise for criticising Senator Obama's observation because I thought what he said was wrong.

"If America is defeated in Iraq, the consequences for the West will be catastrophic."
Howard's discomfort was worsened by reports in local media that his remarks had been dismissed by Democrats in the US as "bizarre" and that even some Republican senators had criticised him for interfering in US domestic affairs.

The grilling in parliament also came just hours after the latest opinion poll showed that Rudd has overtaken Howard as the preferred prime minister.

Rudd has breathed new life into the left-of-centre opposition since he was installed in December as Labor's candidate to face off against Howard in elections due by the end of the year.
Howard will be standing for his fifth term.