JOHN Howard has accused Mark Latham of increasing the risk of a terrorist attack by promoting a foreign affairs policy of isolation and retreat.

In an extraordinary pre-poll attack, the Prime Minister last night set foreign policy at the centre of the election, directly accusing the Labor leader of damaging the alliance with the US, which gave Australia "unrivalled" assets to destroy terrorist networks.

Focusing on Labor's "cut and run" strategy of pulling troops out of Iraq by Christmas, Mr Howard said Islamic extremists cannot be assuaged and "if they see a wavering or retreating enemy, their response is to hit as hard as they can and claim responsibility".
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