Foreign troops in Iraq 'a magnet' (to insurgents)

[sabra]

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,17778494-29277,00.html

Foreign troops in Iraq 'a magnet'


FOREIGN forces in Iraq act like a magnet to insurgents, and Australia should think about pulling out of the troubled country, federal Opposition Leader Kim Beazley has said.

This is Mr Beazley's toughest stand yet on Australia's troops role in the reconstruction of Iraq.
"I think you've got to the position now where the United States and Britain and us have to think through very carefully the consequences of still being there (in Iraq)," Mr Beazley said yesterday.

In particular, he said the foreign military force in Iraq was attracting a stream of insurgents to Iraq from around the region, ensuring continuing bloodshed and instability.

"While our troops are there, we are acting like a magnet to all the ne'er-do-wells in the Middle East, bringing them into Iraq to join in the insurgency," Mr Beazley is quoted as telling Southern Cross Broadcasting.

"Now there'd be no point in them being there if we weren't there."