AUSTRALIA'S involvement in the war in Iraq is becoming less popular with voters. The latest Herald/Nielsen poll shows almost two-thirds believe troops should be withdrawn.

The poll of 1412 people taken from last Thursday to Saturday, shows 62 per cent believe troops should come home, up three percentage points since the question was last asked in October.

It also finds 58 per cent of voters oppose Australian involvement in the war, up three points. Sixty-one per cent maintain Australian involvement has increased the risk of a domestic terrorist attack, but this figure is down four points since January. Iraq sprung into the political mainstream again when the Minister for Defence, Brendan Nelson, said recently that protecting Iraqi and Middle-Eastern oil supplies was one reason for staying. This sparked a flurry of conflicting statements and backdowns in the Government and taunts by Labor that the Government was no longer able to clearly rationalise the reasons for staying.

The growing outrage against the war in the US is also playing into the domestic scene, given the close personal ties between the Prime Minister, John Howard, and the US President, George Bush, who is being deserted by Republicans over the conflict.

The Foreign Affairs Minister, Alexander Downer, insisted yesterday that withdrawing US troops would be a victory for terrorism. Despite a CIA assessment showing al-Qaeda was not the main problem in Iraq, Mr Downer said the terrorist outfit was helping foment sectarian violence.
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