Australian PM defends pulling special forces out of Afghanistan

[rodeodance]

Australian PM defends pulling special forces out of Afghanistan

Mon Sep 25, 11:25 PM ET

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australian Prime Minister John Howard has defended his decision to withdraw special forces troops from
Afghanistan in the midst of an increasingly bloody insurgency.
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An elite special force task group of about 200 Special Air Services (SAS) troops and commandos is due to return to Australia this month after spending a year conducting operations in the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan.

Howard defended pulling out the troops at a time when the insurgency was intensifying and
NATO's commander of the alliance's mission in Afghanistan, General James Jones, has appealed for 2,000 extra soldiers.

Howard said it would be a mistake to put too much pressure on Australia's special forces........

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060926/wl_asia_afp/australiaafghanistanmilitary;_ylt=AsiKtRhKcqqyxBw4tgpuhSJvaA8F;_ylu=X3oDMTA0cDJlYmhvBHNlYwM-

[Matilda]

1. He's just worried that now that fighting's intensifying,

somebody might get killed. That wouldn't play well with the electorate.

He's managed to avoid fallout from Iraq and Afghanistan because we haven't got many troops deployed
and nobody's got killed. Except Jake Kovco, and that was probably "frienly fire".