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| Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) F/A-18F Super Hornet |
By Helen Clark
The prime minister is raring to go, despite the questionable wisdom of the move.
The U.S. has asked Australia to help bomb Syria, in a letter delivered to the embassy in Washington. Fairfax Media has reported that “the driving force for the formal request received last week from the United States for the RAAF to join the air campaign in Syria came more from Canberra – and in particular the Prime Minister’s office – than from Washington.” At least according to senior government sources. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has denied the claim.
At a press conference during his North Queensland trip Wednesday Tony Abbott said that in fact the original request had come during a phone conversation with U.S. President Barack Obama about the Trans-Pacific Partnership on July 17, when he also called to give his condolences for the Chattanooga shooting.
What Australia will do will be decided next week by the National Security Committee of Cabinet. Neither Leader nor Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Bill Shorten and Tanya Plibersek, respectively, have come out strongly for or against the move, as they wish to know more. Leader of the Greens, Senator Richard Di Natale, is against, carrying on from his predecessor Christine Milne’s opposition to strikes in Iraq, and Independent Tasmanian MP Andrew Wilkie has said it would be “one of the most reckless things this government has ever done.” Wilkie likewise was against involvement in Iraq. Former Labor foreign minister Bob Carr, who has been quoted widely in Australian media, is strongly in favor: “The West has really got a moral obligation to act where it can be argued there’s a chance of saving civilian populations from the mass atrocity crimes that seem to follow very quickly when IS takes control of territory.” So far, so many political soundbites.
Read the full story at The Diplomat