WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Congressman John Murtha, D-Pennsylvania, said Monday that the Iraqis will "get rid of" al Qaeda if the U.S. military withdraws from Iraq.

"The minute we're gone they will take care of al Qaeda by themselves," Murtha said in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "Al Qaeda will not even be a factor in Iraq once the United States is gone."

"I'll tell you, [al Qaeda in Iraq] will rue the day when the United States get out of there because the Iraqis know who they are and they'll get rid of them," he said. "I'm absolutely convinced. They know the top tribes they know the geography, the Iraqis know who the al Qaeda are. It's just that we, obviously, provide the incentive to recruit al Qaeda. Iran wants us in there, and al Qaeda wants us in there."

Murtha was responding to Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who said Sunday that a timeline for troop withdrawal would be a "victory for the terrorists" in Iraq.