Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith says he has made it clear to the Bush Administration that Australia will go ahead with the withdrawal of its combat troops from Iraq.

Mr Smith was speaking after holding his first meeting with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington.

He says the pull-out will be done in consultation with the US and with minimal disruption.

"We are sticking absolutely to the election commitment that we took to the Australian people," he said.

But he says Australia will also consider providing more aid and infrastructure support to both Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Australia stands ready to consider what other avenues of support there may well be to support the effort in Iraq," he said.

"This of course goes to aid matters, it goes to building Iraq's capacity."

Meanwhile Dr Rice says their inaugural talks have been fruitful.

"It really has been a very good first meeting and we look very much forward to meetings in the future," she said.

Dr Rice has also accepted an invitation to visit Perth later this year.

Mr Smith is also meeting Vice-President Dick Cheney and US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, before attending Mr Bush's State of the Union speech later today.