Australia Withdraws Troops

In what seems like a big deal, but for some reason isn't being covered as such, Australia has officially declared to cease combat operations in Iraq. To symbolize this event, an Australian flag was lowered at a base in southern Iraq. This move makes good on a promise by Australia's new Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, that he made during his campaign last year. Good on him for sticking to his word.

I would consider the fact that one of our allies in this war, an entire continent, has declared "enough is enough" to be front page news. However, I only learned about it from a 10 second piece on CNN. I wanted to learn more, so I went to Google News. There was no mention of it under the "World" section. I searched "Australia", and finally an article came up. It was listed third under a story on cricket and an energy company possibly being sold. Not only that, the Associated Press article was only 4 sentences, totalling 77 words. Wow.

For more on the Australian perspective, check out this article from the Sydney Morning Herald.