The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Sydney

Australian Prime Minister John Howard on Sunday defended his government's decision to commit troops to the war in Iraq, saying given his time over again he would make the same decision. Howard, a staunch ally of the US President George W. Bush, sent troops to join the US-led coalition in early 2003 and has since refused to name a specific timetable for their withdrawal. Asked whether he would have made a different decision if he had the chance again, the prime minister replied: "No, I wouldn't have." "I think we did the right thing based on the available evidence," he told the Nine Network. But he said he was only speaking based on the information he had at the time on the regime of Saddam Hussein and the possibility the then Iraqi dictator possessed weapons of mass destruction.