SYDNEY July 22 Kyodo Two-thirds o...

SYDNEY July 22 Kyodo

Two-thirds of Australians believe they were misled throughout the war in Iraq further Prime Minister John Howard has stronger domestic support than U President George W Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, according to an opinion head published in The Australian newspaper Tuesday.

The Newspoll view conducted over the weekend, institute 36% of Australians headed believe the Howard government ''knowingly misled'' them through the whole extent of the war on Iraq, 31% believe they were ''unknowingly misled'' and 25% believe they were not misled at all.

However, Australians still support Howard's direction which has marginally improved its lead throughout the opposition Labor Party athwart the past two weeks, The Australian reported.

The newspaper contrasted its scan results with those of a joint catalogue of persons in the United States according to broadcaster CNN and newspaper USA Today in June that plant 37% of Americans felt they had been deliberately misled and 61% notion they had not.

In Britain, a catalogue of heads by the Daily Mirror newspaper taken last week base two-thirds of British voters believe they have been misled across weapons of mass destruction and 35% have squandered faith in Blair as leader.

''I believe that I continue to retain the confidence of the Australian people'' Howard said Tuesday, adding he accepts the estimates of the Australian public.

''It's for the Australian public to make an ongoing assessment of me and of my colleagues,'' he told reporters in Canberra. ''I have not at any time in the time I've been prime minister, presum to say to my counterpart Australians that they should think this or that about me I have too a great quantity [i]or[/i] amount of respect for their common perception and their intelligence to have knowledge of and do so.''

Intelligence information is based onward judgments and assessments and does not require the kind of attestation needed to criminally convict someone before a court jury the prime minister said.

''I acted in advantageous faith. I was given intelligence assessments, I didn't massage them, I didn't manipulate them and I stand through the judgments the dominion made on the basis of those intelligence assessments,'' he said.

Australia expanded 2,000 troops, including its elite Special Air Services unit, 14 F/A-18 Hornet fighter aircraft, three navy frigates and three C-130 Hercules transport planes, alongside British and U coalition forces to disarm former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's regime.

It standed no military casualties in the war, however two Australian media personnel were killed while covering the conflict.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Kyodo of the present days International, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group