Australia is committed to fighting alongside the United States in Afghanistan for the "long haul," Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Monday according to dpa. Rudd"s comments came while meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and shortly after a similar session with President Barack Obama, who is expected to announce a revised strategy on Tuesday for the war in Afghanistan. "Australia takes its alliance with the United States very seriously," Rudd said Monday. "That"s why we have been with America for a long time in Afghanistan, and why we will be with America for the long haul." Obama will announced on Tuesday that he is deploying as many as 30,000 troops to Afghanistan to step up the fight against Taliban insurgents in a rapidly deteriorating security environment. Australia has more than 1,300 soldiers in Afghanistan. --SPA