Australia had not given an unconditional guarantee of military support to the United States for any action against Iraq, Prime Minister John Howard said in Perth Thursday.
"We have not given -- and won't give -- any country a blank check about Australian military involvement," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in an interview in Perth, according to AFP.
Howard's measured response to listeners' questions contrasted with strong support expressed a week ago by Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer for preemptive United States military action against Iraq.
Howard said, "If we receive a request from the US, it will be considered at the time on its merits and according to the circumstances. "We are, nonetheless, a very close ally of the US - there are enormous benefits in that.
"But we also have an interest as a freedom-loving, democratic country in seeing that regimes that can, through the possession and potential use of weapons of mass destruction, represent a threat to stability in parts of the world... we have a responsibility to support appropriate responses.
"That is not easy. We will make a decision if we are approached. We understand America's position and I think you have to look at the overall behavior of Iraq."
Downer had argued that failure to stop Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein from developing weapons of mass destruction would be comparable to the policy of appeasement that permitted Nazi Germany's rise.
"A policy of appeasement is a policy that is going to allow Saddam Hussein to continue to develop weapons of mass destruction," Downer said during a visit to Washington.
"I think only a fool would support a policy of appeasement and just hope that by saying nothing more or doing nothing about Iraq and Saddam Hussein the whole problem will go away," he added in a jab at other US allies.
"There is increasingly, I think, a realization around the world that this isn't an issue that we can just run away from."
Downer's remarks, which were amongst the strongest yet from any US ally in support of preemptive military strikes on Iraq, came just days after President George W. Bush vowed to use "all tools" to oust President Saddam Hussein. (Albawaba.com)
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