Iraq war protests await Cheney on Australia visit

Sydney, Feb 22: Protesters plan to deliver a firm anti-Iraq war message to US Vice President Dick Cheney in Australia today as one of his firmest allies faces searching questions over its commitment to the unpopular war.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard has ruled out following Britain's example by reducing troop numbers in Iraq but his unwavering commitment has him walking through a political minefield towards an election later this year.

''Mr Howard is enduring a perfect storm on the alliance and Iraq at the moment, a series of unexpected events which are combining to make for difficult sailing,'' Michael Fullilove, global issues director at the Lowy Institute thinktank in Sydney, told Reuters today.

Police began a security clampdown in Sydney ahead of Cheney's potentially stormy visit, warning commuters of major traffic jams due to city road closures during Cheney's visit.

Cheney was due to arrive late today, with police and protesters squaring off over the legality of a planned demonstration and march to the US consulate in Sydney.

''What the protest groups propose to do is that any location where Cheney has engagements, they intend to turn up and actually disrupt and cause as much problems as they can for the people in and around the area,'' New South Wales state Deputy Police Commissioner Terry Collins told Australian radio. At a refueling stopover in Guam, Cheney told several hundred soldiers at Andersen airforce base, the self-ruled, US territory in the Pacific Ocean ''had tremendous importance to the peace and security of our world''.

''By positioning forces on Guam, the United States can move quickly and effectively to protect our friends, to defend our interests, to bring relief in times of emergency, to keep the sealanes open to commence and closed to terrorists.'' Cheney's uneventful visit to Japan and then to Australia is to reassure Washington's allies that Bush's planned injection of 21,500 more troops into Iraq will help quell violence.

But British Prime Minister Tony Blair's announcement that he would soon start withdrawing his troops has added to the pressure on Washington's other allies. Denmark and Lithuania have said they would pull out their much smaller commitments.

''Out of Step,'' The Sydney Morning Herald said in a front page headline about Australia's Iraq commitment, a day after the newspaper said Howard should tell Cheney that enough was enough.

Iraq is a major problem for Howard's conservative government ahead of elections in the second half of 2007, perhaps the toughest of his 11-year reign.

An opinion poll this week found 67 per cent of Australians either want Howard to set a date for withdrawing troops from Iraq or pull them out immediately.

Centre-left Labor opposition leader Kevin Rudd, who will meet Cheney tomorrow, has an 8-point lead in opinion polls on the back of a promise to withdraw Australia's 520-strong battle group from southern Iraq if he wins power.

''This war in Iraq represents the single greatest failure of Australian national security policy since Vietnam,'' Rudd said late yesterdeay.

Fullilove said Howard had tied his fortunes to Bush's Iraq policy and would not change his commitment.

Australia said today it is considering plans to double its troop deployment to Afghanistan to about 1,000 to head off an expected spring resurgence of al Qaeda and Taliban fighters.

Fullilove said increasing troops in Afghanistan was not contentious because the Afghanistan conflict had bipartisan support in Australia.

But he said the continued detention of Australian Guantanamo Bay inmate David Hicks could be one area where Howard wins a concession from Cheney. Hicks' five year detention has angered Australians who want him charged or brought home.

Howard spoke directly to US President George W Bush this week, urging him to push for a speedy trial for Hicks, who faces charges of providing support for terrorism and attempted murder.

Reuters