Melbourne: "Early withdrawal of coalition forces from Iraq would lead to disastrous strategic and humanitarian consequences and position Baghdad as a platform for global terror," said John Howard Australian Prime Minister.

Four years after the coalition went to war in Iraq, Howard mounted a strong defence of Australia's continued military presence in the country and asked the international community to stay engaged at the 'hard end' of the struggle.

He appealed to Australians to consider the high stakes in Iraq and to remember that, notwithstanding a strong economy, a near record stock market and low unemployment, this is a time of war.

"The stakes are extraordinarily high - for Iraq, for the wider Middle East, for American power and prestige and, ultimately, for our region and our own national security," Howard told the Australian Strategic Policy Institute in Canberra.

"I believe strongly that to signal our departure now would be against Australia's national interest," he said and attacked opposition labor party leader Kevin Rudd, saying he had adopted a fundamentally flawed position on Iraq that the war-torn country could achieve reconciliation without the security provided by coalition forces.

"Why is it right that Australia and its allies prevail in Afghanistan but fail in Iraq? Why is it approved for Iraq to become a safe haven for global terror but not Afghanistan," Howard said.

 "Labor supports setting a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq irrespective of the situation on the ground. Our position could not be more sharply different," he said.