Australian PM makes good on campaign platform that Iraq deployment has made Australia more of a target for terrorism, & is bringing combat troops home

From TIME:

Australia ended its combat operations in southern Iraq on Sunday. . . .

The U.S. military [faces] a dwindling coalition of allied countries providing supporting combat troops in Iraq.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was swept into office in November largely on the promise that he would bring home the country's 550 combat troops by the middle of 2008, saying the Iraq deployment has made Australia more of a target for terrorism.