As Australian forces ended their mission in southern Iraq this week and began heading home, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd praised the troops but said the decision to send them had been a mistake. The government of his predecessor, John Howard, had joined the war against Saddam Hussein's regime "without a full and proper assessment ... of its consequences." At Tallil air base, Lieutenant Colonel Chris Websdane's praise for his soldiers was unqualified: "You should be proud of your achievements. I am."
Australians have not been engaged in fighting in Iraq since Saddam's armies...
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