| The Aussies always step up. |
``It's a bigger army to meet our likely responsibilities, and our likely responsibilities include from time to time being involved in operations like Afghanistan and Iraq, but very particularly our responsibilities in our region where we will carry the majod. As well as Iraq and Afghanistan, Australia has peacekeeping forces close to home in East Timor and the Solomon Islands.
Howard also named the South Pacific's most populous island nation, Papua New Guinea, as one of the potential trouble spots in a ``fairly unsettled region.'' ``The rest of the world quite understandably looks to Australia as the strongest and wealthiest country in the region to carry a lot of the burden,'' Howard said.
He said the increase had no bearing on how long Australia intended to leave troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. ``They will stay in Afghanistan and Iraq for so long as the need is there,'' he said.
Of Australia's 51,000 army, navy and air force personnel, 4,000 are currently deployed overseas. Neil James, executive director of the Australian Defense Association, a security policy think tank, said the army's resources are already stretched by current overseas operations.