Last Australian soldiers withdraw from Iraq

The last Australian soldiers responsible for providing security at the Australian embassy in Baghdad have withdrawn from Iraq, Australian Defense Minister Stephen Smith confirmed. Smith said it was no secret that the Labor government had opposed Australia''s involvement in Iraq, campaigning on that issue in the 2007 election campaign and then overseeing withdrawal of the last Australian combat troops from the country''s south in mid- 2008. "I have made it crystal clear on any number of occasions that I have seen our involvement and the international community''s involvement in Iraq as a distraction from Afghanistan," he told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday. But he said it had been important for the Australian Defense Force (ADF) to continue providing security for Australian diplomats, noting that Australia had 150 soldiers equipped with ASLAV armoured vehicles, but the size of the force, known as SECDET (security detachment), has progressively been reduced in line with the improving security situation.