Senator Barack Obama is incorrect to say that Australia has deployed 1,400 troops to Iraq. There are actually only 700* Australian military personal based within Iraq, and these mostly stay in their bases and don't undertake active security operations. The remainder are on a warship in Persian Gulf or in Qatar and other nearby friendly countries. If President Bush could equal Prime Minister Howards’ contribution there would be only 10,000 American troops in Iraq, not the 1400,000. 

The Age newspaper 12 February 2007