Australia’s Prime Minister John Howard, left, welcomed U.S. President George W. Bush to Australia's Parliament House on Thursday. In his address in Parliament Bush praised Australia on Thursday for sending troops to Iraq. Photo by AP
US President George W. Bush thanked Australia on Thursday for sending troops to Iraq and declared that Australia had a "special responsibility" to shoulder a regional security role that has made some of its neighbors nervous. Bush personally saluted Prime Minister John Howard, who sent 2,000 troops to Iraq, as "a leader of exceptional courage". Hundreds of protestors thronged outside Australia's parliament, some clutching placards declaring the US leader "an evil guy".