Howard: 'I had previously said I did not contemplate a major increase'. (Lateline)
Prime Minister John Howard has conceded the Federal Government has reversed an earlier decision to not send additional troops to Iraq.
He has denied he misled Australians over the Government's decision to send more troops to Iraq.
An additional 450 troops will be sent to southern Iraq to begin work in early May, training security forces and protecting Japanese soldiers involved in the reconstruction effort.
The commitment came after the Dutch Government decided to pull out its 1,400 troops, in the face of strong domestic pressure.
Mr Howard has told ABC radio's AM program, circumstances in Iraq have altered and he does not apologise for changing the Government's policy.
"I'm not running away from the fact that I had previously said I did not contemplate a major increase and that was a fair statement of the Government's state of the mind at the time I made that," he said.
"But in these situations a government have a capacity, if circumstances alter, and it is judged to be not only in our own interests, but also in the broader interests of democracy in the Middle East, that we make those changes."
Aiding allies
Mr Howard says the Government received a letter from the British Foreign Secretary in late January, asking for Australia to increase its military presence.
Shortly after that, Mr Howard told a national magazine that the Government had no intention of significantly increasing the number of troops in Iraq.
The Prime Minister says at the time the Government had not decided to change its policy and that it was not a misleading answer.
"We had previously had a position and until you change your position in relation to that, and it was by no means certain even at that time that we were going to change it," he said.
"I, in [being] asked a question, gave the response that I've given previously and I think that's perfectly reasonable."
Mr Howard says the Federal Government is responding to requests from the leaders of two close allies, Britain and Japan.
"This involves a partnership with a country that is very important to us in our own region," he said.
"It also involves responding to a request from one of the other Coalition partners - the British, but the Japanese element of this is very important because Japan is a strong regional ally and partner of Australia."
Japan renounced the right to use force in its US-imposed 1947 constitution and its 600 troops in Iraq have not fired their weapons since the start of the deployment in December 2003.
Australia, an original member of US President George W Bush's "coalition of the willing" committed 2,000 troops to the 2003 invasion, but has since reduced its deployment to around 950.
Coalition talks
Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson has also discussed Australia's decision to increase the number of troops in Iraq with his British counterpart, John Prescott, in London overnight.
Mr Anderson labelled the Government's decision to more than double the number of Australian troops in Iraq as difficult, but the right thing to do.
"We're very committed to ensuring that at this quite important time for Iraq that it does not go wrong for us - we have to see this through," he said.
When asked whether seeing it through means the Government is open to sending more troops, Mr Anderson says he did not "anticipate, and the Government does not anticipate, any further requests or need".
But he acknowledged the Government was just as adamant before the election that it would not need to provide further reinforcements.
Mr Anderson was also asked whether the Government had discussed boosting troops before the federal election in October.
"There have been certain discussions at non-political levels ... since that Dutch decision was made, but the Government started its consideration more recently and took a decision on Tuesday," he said.
Opposition concern
The Opposition says the Federal Government promised it would not increase troop numbers in Iraq and has misled the nation.
Labor's defence spokesman Robert McClelland says Australia risks being caught up in a civil war in Iraq.
"We seem to be getting swept along with the tide - we have never stated what our objective is, when that objective is going to be satisfied, and when we can get out," he said.
He says the troops should instead be defending Australia from the threat of regional terrorism.
Praise
Meanwhile, Iraq's interim prime minister, Iyad Allawi, has praised Australia for promising to send the extra troops to Iraq.
Mr Allawi says the Australian decision supports the Iraqi Government in spreading security and keeping order to confront terrorism.
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has also welcomed Australia's decision to dispatch more soldiers to Iraq.
The Australian troops will be based mainly in the provincial capital Samawah where nearly 600 Japanese troops are stationed for humanitarian and reconstruction work.
Mr Koizumi says he asked Mr Howard to send the troops in a telephone conversation last Friday, following a similar request from Britain.
Pentagon official Larry DiRita says the United States is also grateful for the extra troops, describing Australia as an important and wonderful ally.
"I don't know that a formal approach has gone to any individual country as much as there's regular dialogue with the coalition, and the coalition countries know what requirements there are," he said.
Australian prime minister John Howard has admitted this week's decision to commit an additional 450 troops to Iraq is a policy backflip.

During the 2004 election campaign Mr Howard indicated that there would be no major increase in the number of Australian troops in Iraq.  However yesteday's announcement is set to more than double the number of Australian troops on the ground in Iraq.

Mr Howard justified the reversal of policy as being in the "broader interests of democracy in the Middle East".  He also explained that the decision came in response to requests from British and Japanese leaders.

The commitment of extra troops comes as a result of the Dutch government's decision to withdraw 1400 soldiers from Iraq, in response to political pressure in Holland.

The Australians will be deployed to the Iraqi province of Al Muthanna to provide military support for Japanese engineers working on reconstruction projects.