(submission) Al-Qaeda Praying For Obama Win, says PM Howard, page 1

Australian Prime Minister Howard said that U.S.Presidential Candidate Obama planned bill to remove US combat forces from Iraq by March 31 next year is wrong. He said that Al-Qaeda will be praying as many times as possible for a victory not only for Obama but also for the Democrats.

www.news.com.au
PRIME Minister John Howard has blasted US presidential candidate Barack Obama, saying his policy of withdrawing troops from Iraq will destabilise the entire Middle East.

Senator Obama has introduced a bill to remove US combat forces from Iraq by March 31 next year - but the legislation has virtually no chance of becoming law while George W Bush is president, and the presidential election is not until November 2008.

Al-Qaeda will trumpet it as the greatest victory they've ever had, and that will have implications in our region because of the link ... between al-Qaeda and JI (Jemaah Islamiyah)."

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

I am not sure about Howard's intention with this statement.
One of the possible reasons could be the immediate threat coming from JI (Jemaah Islamiyah) to Australia because JI is based in Indonesia. And this is considered very close to Australia.

He concludes that any wrong decisions that will be made in Iraq would mean further terrorism problems that will eventually reach to his own Country.