JOHN HOWARD: When we are satisfied that what we leave behind will be relatively stable, and democracy has a reasonable chance, if that is the wish of the Iraqi people, of surviving and developing.
That has not arrived yet, I hope it will arrive soon. None of us want to stay in Iraq any longer than necessary, but if the coalition were to pull out of Iraq now, it would be an unqualified victory for the terrorists.
And that unqualified victory would be used as a recruiting argument by the terrorists throughout the world, and not least by Jemaah Islamiah in Indonesia, which is right on out doorstep.
REPORTER: I thought at the outset of this war on of the things that was being aimed for was a democratic Iraq?
JOHN HOWARD: Yes, it is. And that remains the objective. But the…
REPORTER: Sorry, Prime Minister, but it's no longer necessary that Iraq be democratic before we withdraw?
JOHN HOWARD: It's necessary that the Iraqis are able to maintain the security of the country, and we're satisfied that the conditions are as predictable and as stable as possible for the maintenance of democracy in that country.
CHRIS UHLMANN: Labor has seized on this as a significant shift in the Government's position and claims it's a sign of yet another failure in the war.
