PM ponders Iraq troop boost
Tony Abbott appears prepared to increase Australia’s military commitment in Iraq, saying coalition forces must be “more committed” to the battle against Islamic State.
Senior sources inside the Government have told The West Australian there was broad concern about America’s lack of clear strategy in Iraq.
One described the US approach as being “half-pregnant”, as if the Americans had not decided whether the task was to repel IS or hold it at bay.
The debacle in Ramadi last week, where the Iraqi army fled from the fight despite outnumbering the militants, has worried military planners.
US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter said at the weekend that events in Ramadi indicated Iraqi troops lacked the will to fight.
Some Republican politicians want the US to increase its 3000-strong troop numbers substantially — a sensitive subject in the early days of the presidential race.
Asked if the debacle in Ramadi pointed to the pointlessness of the coalition training an Iraqi army that does not want to fight, the Prime Minister said the Iraqi unit that “most stuck to its post” before withdrawing was the counterterrorism service Australia had been advising and assisting in Baghdad.
“The serious setback in Ramadi just emphasises how challenging the task is and how necessary the task is,” Mr Abbott said.
“If anything this should cause us to be more committed, not less committed, to the task ahead because this conflict in the Middle East is not just something that’s happening thousands of miles away.
“This fight is reaching out to us, and we might wish it were not so, but we have no choice in this matter.
“They are reaching out to us and it’s important that we respond at home and abroad.”
As part of the Abbott Government’s domestic counterterrorism shake-up, Stirling MP Michael Keenan, already the Justice Minister, will also be the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on counterterrorism.
Reporting to Mr Keenan will be former diplomat Greg Moriarty who will fill a new role as counterterrorism co-ordinator.
