John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Our strategy, in cooperation with our coalition partners, is to build the circumstances where the Iraqi security forces are able to provide a reasonable level of security in that country on their own so that the people of Iraq may be able to enjoy the democracy that they have on three occasions, in the face of the most fearful intimidation, voted to embrace. Those of us in this nation who have only ever enjoyed peaceful democracy should be in awe of the courage of 10 million Iraqis who, in the face of the most terrible intimidation, have voted to embrace a democratic future. That is our goal. Another goal that we have is to avoid the consequences of a premature withdrawal. The consequences of a premature withdrawal have been pointed out by Baker-Hamilton—

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