WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush said he planned to convince Australian Labor Party leader Keven Rudd to stay the course in Iraq if he is elected prime minister.
Bush said he would ask Rudd to consider conditions on the ground in Iraq before making a decision about Australia's involvement in the conflict, Sky News (Australia) reported Friday.
"I'll be meeting with Mr. Rudd and I am looking forward to it. He doesn't know me and I don't know him," Bush said.
"But what I ask, if he were to win, is that he consider conditions on the ground before making any decisions. What matters is success ... I will be glad to explain to him why I am optimistic that this hard work will achieve what we all want which is, over time, less troops, and peace."
"I want to thank the (John) Howard government for joining this struggle against extremist radicals ... our coalition partners should be making decisions on the basis of what is happening on the ground, because failure in Iraq, in my judgment, would lead to turmoil, chaos in the Middle East," Bush said.
