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John Howard has set off a firestorm between Australia and the US Democratic Party after he criticised the Iraq policy of Barack Obama, a wildly popular Democrat who is potentially the next president of the US.
Howard, a close ally of current Republican president George W Bush, said a presidential win by Obama, who wants to withdraw US combat troops from Iraq, would be welcomed by al-Qaeda.
Democrats have reacted with disdain, with Obama saying if Howard is so strongly supportive of the war in Iraq then he should send another 20,000 Australian troops into battle.
"I would also note that we have close to 140,000 troops in Iraq, and my understanding is Mr Howard has deployed 1,400, so if he is... to fight the good fight in Iraq, I would suggest that he calls up another 20,000 Australians and sends them to Iraq," Obama told reporters in the mid-western US state of Iowa.
If Howard did not take up the invitation, Obama said the comments became nothing more than "empty rhetoric".
"I think it's flattering that one of George Bush's allies on the other side of the world started attacking me the day after I announced (I would run for the 2008 Democrat presidential nomination)."
Howard started the fight when he criticised Obama's plan to withdraw US combat troops by March 2008.
"If America pulls out of Iraq in March 2008 it can only be in circumstances of defeat," Howard told Nine Network on Monday.
"If I were running al-Qaeda in Iraq, I would put a circle around March 2008 and be praying as many times as possible for a victory not only for Obama but also for the Democrats."
Howard is under pressure over Australia's involvement in the war, with opinion polls consistently showing the conflict is unpopular with Australian voters.
The latest AC Nielsen poll in Fairfax newspapers on Monday has the opposition Labour party 16% in front of the governing coalition on a two-party preferred vote while Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd also leads Howard in the preferred prime minister stakes.
Labour has pledged to bring Australian troops home, through negotiation with the US, if it wins office later this year.
