richard armitage was better in the addams family

Howard and Downer hang their hat on a few hundred troops. Bring them home NOW and stop lying to the Australian people about how long the Iraq occupation will go on.


US claims Labor divided over Iraqi troops

The Howard Government has seized on comments by the Bush administration that the Opposition is divided over its plan to bring Australian troops home from Iraq by Christmas.

But Labor has rejected any internal split over the issue.

The US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage has told reporters in Washington he has held recent talks with Labor politicians who spoke "candidly and plainly" about internal divisions over Mark Latham's pledge to pull troops out of Iraq.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said: "There are people in the Labor Party saying one thing in the United States to cuddle up to the Americans and they're saying another thing to the Australian public and I think that is an extraordinary display of not just division but incoherence.

But Labor's Kevin Rudd says he had a robust discussion with Mr Armitage recently.

"I'm completely uncertain as to the basis of Mr Armitage's reported claims concerning any split within Labor ranks on this matter," he said.

Labor has been under pressure by the US administration to abandon its Iraq policy.