By Kevin Placek
The prime minister announces the dispatch of troops and combat aircraft.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced Sunday that Australia will deploy military forces as part of the U.S.-led international coalition to fight the Islamic State, which continues to occupy large swathes of territory in northern Iraq and Syria. The Australian Defence Force will deploy up to eight Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) F/A18 combat aircraft, an E-7A Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft, and a KC-30A Multi-Role Tanker and Transport aircraft. A special operations task group will also be assembled to act as military advisers to the “Iraqi and other security forces” fighting ISIL. This includes around 600 Defence Force personnel – 400 from the RAAF and 200 from the Army.
The government’s decision came after a formal request was received from the United States to contribute military forces to the international coalition, which includes Britain, France, Canada and Turkey, among others. Until recently, Abbott had qualified most of his statements about possible military involvement in Iraq as being dependent upon receiving a “specific request” from the Obama Administration.
The decision should come as little surprise to most Australians, however, as the government has steadily inched closer to this point, from providing humanitarian assistance and participating in international supply missions to arming Kurdish Peshmerga troops, and now, military deployment. Although the prime minister was careful to clarify that Australia is not deploying combat troops, he did warn Australians “that should this preparation and deployment extend into combat operations, that this could go on for quite some time.” The most recent sign that the nation is back on a war footing came a mere two days earlier with a revision of the threat assessment at home.
Read the full story at The Diplomat