Get out of Afghanistan: Wilkie

[Swagman]

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

August 29, 2010 - 1:23PM

New independent MP Andrew Wilkie says foreign troops, including Australians, should get out of Afghanistan even though that means more people will die.

But, he says, the issue wasn't among his 20 matters of concern listed in letters to Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott.

Mr Wilkie achieved national prominence in 2003 when he quit, as intelligence analyst, from the Office of National Assessments to attack the Howard government's reason for going to war in Iraq.

He said the lying was continuing over Afghanistan.

"What is being said by the coalition and by the Labor Party is one of the great lies of this election campaign," he told the Nine Network today.

"Both the Labor Party members and coalition members continue to perpetuate this nonsense that we are only there to fight terrorists to prevent them coming to Australia."



Mr Wilkie said he served 20 years in the army, reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel with 6RAR which had lost four soldiers in Afghanistan in the past two months.

"That's upsetting for me. That's my old battalion," he said.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-election/get-out-of-afghanistan-wilkie-20100829-13xbf.html