Gillard assures Australian troops

A rogue US soldier's Afghanistan killing spree will not distract Australia from its mission in the country, Prime Minister Julia Gillard has vowed.

The American slaughtered 16 civilian Afghans - including nine children and three women - in the shocking predawn attack in southern Kandahar province on Sunday.

The US has condemned the attack and promised a thorough investigation, but the massacre has sparked a fresh crisis in Washington's relations with Kabul and will increase Afghan hostility to the allied mission there.

Ms Gillard labelled the killings 'appalling' but promised her government would hold its nerve.

'Our mission in Afghanistan is clear and our commitment to it remains firm,' she told reporters in Canberra.

'Of course, an incident like this is a truly distressing one, but it's not going to distract us from our purpose in Afghanistan and our clear sense of mission in Afghanistan.

'We know what we're there to do.

'We know the timeframe that we are doing it on and our commitment remains clear.'

Defence Minister Stephen Smith offered his condolences to his Afghan counterpart.

'I welcome the swift US condemnation of the incident and the commitment from US Secretary of Defense (Leon) Panetta to work with Afghan officials to investigate the incident,' Mr Smith said in a statement.

'Until the incident has been fully investigated and we have a better understanding of the circumstances, it is not appropriate to be drawn on the possible motivation behind the incident.'

Acting Foreign Minister Craig Emerson called it a horrible incident but defended Australia's continued involvement in the decade-long conflict.

'We are there in Afghanistan because of terror attacks, not only on the United States but in Bali,' he told ABC Radio.

'We've had a lot of young Australians killed as a result of terror attacks. That's why we're in Afghanistan - not because we like war, but because we're against terror.'

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott condemned the attack.

'It is simply a terrible, terrible crime,' he told reporters in Wagga Wagga.

'The perpetrator should be punished and, obviously, the victims we mourn for them and we grieve with their families.'

The massacre coincided with a US survey that found 60 per cent of Americans believed the Afghanistan war was not worth the cost.

The poll by ABC News and The Washington Post found 54 per cent of Americans wanted US troops pulled out even if the Afghan army was not adequately trained to carry on the fight.

Source: http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2012/03/12/Gillard_assures_Australian_troops_728157.html

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