Australian troops end combat operations in Iraq

Australian combat troops have pulled out of Iraq today ending their combat mission after five years of commitment in honor of an election pledge by the new centre-left government.

As the Australian flag was lowered in southern Iraq the conservative former leader John Howard defended his decision to commit the nation to war.

Howard acknowledged, however, that the cost of the war had been "very, very heavy and much greater than anybody would have liked."

The former leader believed that Australia's contribution to the invasion was "deeply appreciated" and had strengthened the nation's alliance with the United States overlooking the fact that opinion polls had shown that most Australians opposed the country's involvement in Iraq.

“I firmly believe it was the right thing to have done," said Howard.

Bush had dubbed Howard a "man of steel" for his commitment despite the wars unpopularity among voters, said Howard.

Defense Minister Joel Fitzgibbon told a news conference it was the "right time" to pull the troops out as the military was overstretched by its commitments in Iraq, Afghanistan and East Timor.

Former foreign minister Alexander Downer echoed the comment, saying that without its military involvement "Australia would have just become a bit-player in global events."

The former leader was speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald in a rare post-election interview as Australia's 550-strong combat force began leaving its base at Tallil, some 300 kilometers (1,875 miles) south of Baghdad.

An editorial in the Sydney Morning Herald, however, notes that senior government advisers said they had fully briefed the Howard government on the likely negative long-term consequences of the invasion.

These included the destabilization of the Middle East, protracted hostilities, Iraq becoming a focus for extremists, damage to US prestige and the growth of anti-Western sentiment.

"Of course the costs -- financial, strategic and in terms of human suffering and lost Iraqi and American lives -- have been even higher than predicted," the paper said.

Canberra will still have 1,000 personnel deployed in support of the war but only a small security and liaison force will remain in Iraq itself. Most will be working from nearby countries on two maritime surveillance aircraft and a warship which helps patrol offshore oil platforms.

The invasion was founded largely on faulty intelligence about Iraq's possession of weapons of mass destruction, the US also accused former president Saddam Hussein of supporting Osama Bin Laden's Al-Qaeda, which attacked New York and Washington on September 11, 2001.

Australian commandos were among the first coalition troops to cross into Iraq, but as the war dragged on the role of the main Australian force was limited and no soldiers were killed in combat.