Australian forces may have destroyed Iraqi weapons of mass destruction control center

AP ^ | March 21, 2003

[Shermy]

By PETER O'CONNOR, Associated Press Writer

CANBERRA, Australia - Elite Australian commandoes have penetrated deep into Iraq, fought with Iraqi forces and may have destroyed weapons of mass destruction control centers, the commander of Australian forces in Iraq said Friday.

His comments come as a new opinion poll Saturday suggests a big rise in the number of Australians supporting the war now that hostilities have started.

Speaking to Australian reporters Friday at coalition headquarters in Qatar, Brig. Maurie McNarn said Australian Special Air Service commandos had been moving deep inside Iraq for several days.

"Their primary role is strategic reconnaissance, although in some cases where there are command and control nodes which are used for communications for controlling WMD (weapons of mass destruction), we will in some cases have taken direct action against those," said McNarn, whose comments were broadcast on Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

Defense officials in Canberra were not immediately available Saturday to clarify if McNarn's comments meant control centers for mass destruction weapons had actually been destroyed.

"They are probably in as far or more so than anyone else at the moment doing that strategic reconnaissance role," he said.

Australia, a longtime and staunch U.S. ally, has 2,000 military personnel involved in the coalition to disarm Iraq. Of those 150 are SAS commandos who work in small teams roving deep into enemy territory. The Australian operation is code-named "Operation Falconer."

McNarn said at least one team had fought with Iraqi troops.

"They had a contact going in, they wounded a number. The rest either dropped their weapons or ran away. They stopped. Their medics treated the wounded Iraqis. We moved on," he said.

The start of hostilities in Iraq has begun to shift public opinion from overwhelming opposition to a fairly even divide according to the latest poll taken on Wednesday and Thursday.

The Newspoll of 800 people found 47 percent of respondents were against the military action and 45 percent were in favor, while the remaining 8 percent were uncommitted.

That compares with an earlier Newspoll last weekend using the pollster's usual larger sample of about 1,100 people which showed opposition to the war at 70 percent, consistent with previous surveys. The error margin on last weekend's poll was about plus or minus 3 percentage points. No error margin was published for Saturday's poll.

Australia's involvement in the conflict has sparked mass demonstrations by peace activists across the nation.

Just hours after Prime Minister John Howard on announced Australia's role in the first strikes on Iraq on Thursday, tens of thousands of people flooded downtown Sydney and Melbourne to register their disgust. More protests were expected Friday and a mass rally was expected Sunday in the capital Canberra.

On Friday the streets of Melbourne were again choked with 5,000 protesters demanding an end to the conflict as mock air raid sirens wailed

[smpc]

and Sydney votes overwhelmingly conservative,especially in the north.

[xp38]

Chretien has announced he will be retiring in Feb 2004 and will not stand for reelection as PM of Canada. The next election will probably have Paul Martin (another Quebecer) as the new leader of the Liberals.

[xp38]

The Aussie PM John Howard is from the Sydney area I believe.

[glf]

When I was a forward observer in Vietnam we always had two Aussies with us as snipers.
The Aussies have been with us many times but this has never received much publicity.
When I once expressed my fear to one of these Austrailians
his reply was: "hey mate !! this is what you get paid for, right ?"

[doug from upland]

Great words from the Aussies. Thanks for sharing it with us.

[tophat9000]

US, Brits and Aussies...sounds like a party after this is over.

Country Western with bagpipes and didgeridoos

[kstewskis]

God Bless Australia!

[Calvin Locke]

You forgot to mention that Chretien pulled a Clinton: Announced his retirement 18 months early. So he's a lame duck,
pulling stuff like Kyoto, causing upheaval in the party, making trouble where he can, when he can, and leaving a big
mess for whomever succeeds him.

[Yaron]

What a load of rubbish. Bob Carr, the Labor premier, is due to be returned with a landslide majority. This is totally contrary to what you state.

[smpc]

Do you realise that Sydney is a city,and not a state?

[Rightwing Conspiratr1]

Seeing is believing.

Not for a hard-core liberal. I'd imagine that even under first hand contact with chemical or biologicals they'd still deny it. There's no hope for the brain-washed minds of some of these people.

[armed_in_sydney]

'Other way round. Sydney is the home of champagne socialists. Victoria is the event capital.'

Tell me you didnt just say that boy.

[2penguins]

"What a load of rubbish. Bob Carr, the Labor premier, is due to be returned with a landslide majority. This is totally contrary to what you state.

Mate, the bush doesn't support Labour. Blame it on Sydneysiders.... No, that's not true, the blame really belongs on the Liberals, if they would work together instesd of bumping leaders off every 18 months or so they might stand a chance. cheers

[Yaron]

I know the bush is Liberal/National (note the capital L). I was rebutting the statement that Sydney is a conservative city. Sydney is far less conservative than Melbourne.

[Yaron]

In any thread concerning Australia, please refrain from refering to lefties as 'liberal'. The Liberal party is the name of the main conservative party in Aus. Along with the National party, they form the conservative coalition that currently governs Australia. No offence dude, It just gets confusing.

[bert]

Last night Fox showed the oil terminal. It was listed as being Iraqui but I suspect it was run by French Petroleum companies. The French oil is now cut off.

We should be looking for gas price rises and lines at the French Pumps. A curtailment means bad news for Frog drivers.

[lavaroise]

You can say anything you want about the Aussies, but when called for, they have balls ... and I mean, the floatation gear. THey have the most demanding fighter pilot school in the West and their guys do not wear armor in combat as they say it slows them down.

[cavador]

By now they probably are already in Bagdad.That's further into Iraq than any other army units.


This man is your friend.



Makes me so proud to be an Aussie!

[Rightwing Conspiratr1]

In any thread concerning Australia, please refrain from refering to lefties as 'liberal'. The Liberal party is the name of the main conservative party in Aus. Along with the National party, they form the conservative coalition that currently governs Australia. No offence dude, It just gets confusing.

Sorry I don't speak Australian very well. In the US liberal means "red commie marxist rat scumbag".

[DensaMensa]

Thanks for that explanation. Australia is then using the "Classical Liberal" definition which has been stolen from much of the rest of the world and means the opposite.