14 Italian Deaths Prompt Pull-Out Demands: "'The Italian servicemen must come back home. It is the only right thing to do now,' said Pietro Folena from the Democrats of the Left. 'Italy should realign itself with France and Germany, withdraw its troops and start a debate with the USA and UK for them to stop their occupation. 'They should give full power and full mandate to the UN to deal with the difficult situation in that country,' he added."

"In the face of this huge tragedy, I will ask only one question: in whose name have they been sent to death?" [the Communist Party leader] said. "Had [the government] listened to us, our troops would not have been sent to die." Green leader Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio said troops should be pulled out of Iraq. "It is immoral to put the lives of thousands of young Italians at risk for Bush's pre-emptive war," he said. "We hope that everybody will agree that we need to pull out our troops immediately.""

So speaks the Italian opposition after the killing of at least 14 Italian caribinieri and soldiers in Iraq. Would the Australian opposition be able to make a similar statement regarding Australia's 900-strong deployment?

14 Italian Deaths Prompt Pull-Out Demands: "'The Italian servicemen must come back home. It is the only right thing to do now,' said Pietro Folena from the Democrats of the Left. 'Italy should realign itself with France and Germany, withdraw its troops and start a debate with the USA and UK for them to stop their occupation. 'They should give full power and full mandate to the UN to deal with the difficult situation in that country,' he added."

"In the face of this huge tragedy, I will ask only one question: in whose name have they been sent to death?" [the Communist Party leader] said. "Had [the government] listened to us, our troops would not have been sent to die." Green leader Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio said troops should be pulled out of Iraq. "It is immoral to put the lives of thousands of young Italians at risk for Bush's pre-emptive war," he said. "We hope that everybody will agree that we need to pull out our troops immediately.""

So speaks the Italian opposition after the killing of at least 14 Italian caribinieri and soldiers in Iraq. Would the Australian opposition be able to make a similar statement regarding Australia's 900-strong deployment?