Thank you Australia!
Posted on 04/04/2003 3:07:15 AM PST by kattracks
Pacific Rim Bureau (CNSNews.com) - Australian special forces troops in western Iraq have played an "absolutely crucial" role in securing missile sites that could have been used to launch attacks on Israel, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Richard Myers said Thursday.
Speaking at a Pentagon briefing on Australia's contributions to the war effort, Myers said the Special Air Services (SAS) troops may be needed in western Iraq for some time.
"It was critical to secure those Scud launch pads," he said. The firing of missiles at Jordan, Israel or Saudi Arabia would have "set up a whole different dynamic," he said.
Myers also praised the contribution of Australia's Navy, which is helping to keep Gulf sea routes safe, and its Air Force, involved in fighter, surveillance and logistics roles.
He said Australia would benefit from the toppling of the regime in Baghdad because that would help the effort to prevent terrorists from acquiring weapons of mass destruction.
"This work in Iraq I think is one more step in trying to ensure biological and chemical weapons don't fall into the hands of people that would be more than willing to use them in Sydney or Melbourne or wherever. We know they have no compunction about killing men, women and children. It's very serious business."
Back in Australia, Prime Minister John Howard said coalition advances in Iraq over the past 48 hours had vindicated supporters of the military option.
He spoke to President Bush by telephone early Friday Australian time, and said afterwards there was no doubt the administration and the Pentagon were feeling "very positive" about the way the Iraq campaign was going.
"If the reports of a more welcoming response [to coalition forces] from the local population are reflected in the mood of the whole community, then that is enormously significant and it may suggest that the regime is loosening. And that would be tremendous," Howard said.
The conservative government committed Australian troops to the war in the face of considerable public opposition - which polls show has eased since the operation began - and despite the official opposition Labor Party's refusal to endorse the decision.
This is the first time Australian forces have participated in a war without bipartisan backing from the country's parliament.
A former Labor prime minister, Bob Hawke, on Thursday called on Howard to bring the Australian troops home now, saying the government must surely be able to see it had made a "fundamental mistake" by committing them.
Hawke was prime minister during the 1991 Gulf War and sent Australian forces to fight then, but he said there were key differences between that war and the current one.
Iraq had invaded its neighbor; a U.N. resolution clearly authorized military action to expel Iraq from Kuwait; and a broad coalition, including important Arab states, had been formed to carry out the task, he said.
Hawke said the war would cost Australian lives in Iraq, and also lead to more terrorist attacks against Australians at home and abroad.
Australian defense spokesman Brig. Mike Hannan confirmed Friday that no Australian military personnel have been killed since the war began just over two weeks ago.
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Thank you Australia!
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