Troops
Afghanistan, an uncertain world, and regional instability will make 2011 a challenging year for the Australian Defence Force.
The campaign in Afghanistan will dominate the military landscape this year as Australia and the other 44 nations involved in the International Assistance Force (ISAF) struggle to develop a workable exit strategy for the eight-year conflict.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has flagged a further decade-long involvement for Australian troops, but such a commitment will become increasingly difficult to justify as casualties mount during the coming fighting season. Pressure will build for a complete withdrawal once the training role is complete in Oruzgan Province (about 2014) where most of the 1550 Australians are working.
Continue reading "Afghanistan is one of many challenges for 2011" »
It’s quite sad the questions people ask when they hear you’ve just been in Afghanistan performing comedy shows for our troops.
“Were you scared?”
“Did you get shot at?”
“Was it hot?”
Continue reading "Don’t mention the war - it’s about the troops" »
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Laurens says:
On behalf of the few intelligent and aware Australians, I wish to apologise for the ignorance and Political Dealings that created the situation our Soldiers have found themselves involved in. It is a totally dishonourable situation. Voter apathy and Political Expediency have allowed this to happen. To add insult to… Read more »
I have listened with great interest to this week’s parliamentary debate about Australia’s involvement in Afghanistan, just as I have listened with great interest to this debate for the past nine years, since October 7th, 2001, when Operation Enduring Freedom was launched by the United States and its allies, including Australia, so that freedom so bravely won by the people of Afghanistan from communist oppression, and so cruelly lost over the following decade to civil war and Taliban misrule, may indeed return, and this time endure.
I have listened to this debate and heard many arguments that we should abandon our mission in Afghanistan.
Some of these arguments are passionate, others cold and rational; some seem sincere, while others callous. And all of them are wrong.
Continue reading "Ending Afghanistan will aid a monstrous regime" »
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petery says:
The debate here reminds me of the Vietnam period, and ‘like that war,in all likelihood, this war will end,(if it ever does),the same way.It could still end in negotiated truce, which would tend to make all the black and white arguments about winning and losing, or fighting to the death,… Read more »
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Katie says:
“Katie, I do actually know about Islam and what I’m saying is correct, and far from being an Islamophobe, I am more Islam-aware. “ Actually you don’t know anything about Islam, and you absolutely an Islamophobe. ” But you clearly demonstrate one of the strategies of Islam.” Islam has no… Read more »
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