Australia would not imbed troops with Iraqi forces as part of a withdrawal strategy for coalition forces in Iraq, Prime Minister John Howard said Sunday. "Given the size of our force ... it's not a realistic thing and we don't have any current proposals to increase the size of our commitment." "The best thing we can do is to go on for the time being doing what we've already done and that is help with training and have an over watch role in those southern areas of Iraq," he added.
Australia has a combined force dedicated to the Iraq region of more than 1,300 including air force and naval personnel. Howard has refused to set a date for their withdrawal