The Government is sticking by its commitment to stay in Iraq despite a growing belief that the war is boosting terrorism worldwide.
Just days after a British military chief warned that coalition troops in Iraq were exacerbating security problems, former Australian Defence Force chief Peter Cosgrove acknowledged the war was inspiring the Jihadist movement.
"If people say that here has been an energising of the Jihadist movement through the protracted war in Iraq - well that's pretty obvious," General Cosgrove told News Limited newspapers.
His admission is at odds with his position after the 2004 Madrid train bombings, where he disputed comments from federal police chief Mick Keelty that the attack was linked to the Iraq war.
Opponents of the war have also seized on comments by Britain's army chief, who believes his country's troops should pull out of Iraq because they are exacerbating the problem.
While unaware of General Cosgrove's comments, Defence Minister Brendan Nelson rejected calls for Australian troops to leave.
Dr Nelson said that Australia would not "cut and run" from Iraq.
"All I can say to you is that Osama bin Laden and the key terrorists around the world consider Iraq, and the terrorists winning in Iraq, to be absolutely critical to their cause," he told Sky News.
Dr Nelson and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer insist Australian troops won't be there any longer than necessary.
"Australia will remain in Iraq not a day longer than we have to be there but we remain there until the democratically elected Iraqi government says that it believes that it is in a position to manage and support its own affairs," Dr Nelson said.
"We will make sure that the Iraqis who risked their lives to vote for a constitution and for a government are supported," he said.
Mr Downer said the diggers would only be around while they were necessary, that was until the Iraqis could look after security themselves.
Labor leader Kim Beazley believes growing opposition to the war supports his call for Prime Minister John Howard to explain to the nation why Australia is still in Iraq.
"General Cosgrove, (federal police) Commissioner (Mick) Keelty and many others, including the chief of the British defence forces, now make the point that the war in Iraq has made us less safe in the struggle with fundamentalist terror - less safe," Mr Beazley told journalists.
"It's something the Labor Party said was the likely outcome of that war for a very long period of time, and John Howard owes the Australian people an explanation for what he's done.
"Better still, he owes the Australian defence forces and the rest of us a withdrawal from the situation in Iraq and a concentration on our region."
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