Kevin Rudd was expected to announce an increase in Australia’s troop commitment to Afghanistan, following his first meeting with President Obama in Washington.
His visit to the US comes the week after two more Australian soldiers were killed—meaning ten have now died in the conflict.
Australia already has almost 1100 troops in Afghanistan—the most of any country outside NATO.
Rudd says the troops are needed to combat terrorism. But the terror tactics of the occupiers are pushing more and more people into joining military resistance, spreading chaos and instability.
Support for the NATO occupation and the Karzai government it installed has dropped sharply, due to the failure to deliver real reconstruction.
The number of people who viewed the presence of foreign troops favourably was just 47 per cent in a recent poll, a drop from 83 per cent in 2005.
Even Obama now admits the war is going badly. He is keen to pressure US allies to boost their troop numbers, following his announcement of 17,000 extra US troops for Afghanistan. This war is becoming bloodier, and the occupation losing more support among Afghans, by the day. Australia should get out now.
