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AUSTRALIA’S CABINET HAS approved the deployment of special forces and military air strikes to tackle the Islamic State organisation in Iraq, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said.
“Today, cabinet has authorised Australian air strikes in Iraq at the request of the Iraqi government and in support of the Iraqi government,” Abbott said.
“Also, subject to final legal documentation, cabinet has authorised the deployment of Australian special forces into Iraq to advise and assist Iraqi forces.”
About 200 troops, including special forces soldiers, arrived in mid-September in the United Arab Emirates, a staging post for military operations into the region, as part of a 600-strong deployment as Australia geared up to join the US-led campaign.
They are backed by Australian air force aircraft, including F/A-18F Super Hornet jets, an E-7A Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft, and a KC-30A multi-role tanker and transport aircraft.
The special forces were “not envisaged” to become directly involved in combat missions but would be “helping Iraqi forces with the planning and coordination of operations”, Abbott stressed.
He added that they would operate on a “much smaller scale” than their allied counterparts.
“The Americans certainly have quite a substantial special forces component on the ground already,” Abbott said.
“My understanding is that there are UK and Canadian special forces already inside Iraq, so we’ll be operating on a much smaller scale but in an entirely comparable way to the United States special forces.”
Some 1,600 US soldiers have been deployed to Iraq to support Iraqi forces with equipment, training and information, while Canada said last month it had sent dozens of special forces soldiers to the country to advise local personnel.
Up to eight Australian Super Hornets were authorised to take part in the strikes, with six of the aircraft currently in the UAE, Australian Defence Force chief Mark Binskin said.
The announcement came days after Australian military jets took part in support missions over Iraq with the US-led international coalition.
To ‘disrupt and degrade’ IS
“It’s very much in Australia’s national interest that we do this useful work to disrupt and degrade ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) at home and abroad,” the prime minister added.
“It could take quite some time, but we will know that we are succeeding when ISIL are in retreat, not in advance. We will know that we are succeeding when the Iraqi government is restoring a modicum of control over its own cities and towns.”
Abbott would not comment on whether his nation would consider taking part in US strikes against jihadists in Syria, saying he wanted to focus on “what’s been done today rather than speculate on what might be done in months or years to come”.
Canberra had already joined the US in an international effort to transport weapons to Kurdish forces fighting IS extremists in northern Iraq and conducted humanitarian air drops to besieged Iraqi towns.
Abbott refused to put a timeframe on Australia’s involvement in Iraq.
“I want to stress that only Iraq can defeat ISIL, but Iraq shouldn’t be alone and as far as Australia and our allies are concerned, Iraq won’t be alone,” he said.
“I have to warn that this deployment to Iraq could be quite lengthy, certainly months rather than weeks. I want to reassure the Australian people that it will be as long as it needs to be, but as short as it possibly can be.”
- © AFP 2014.
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Happened to meet a young Syrian last week in Eastern Europe. Pleaded with me to let people know how evil the ISIS group really is particularly in relation to torture, killing,stealing , and total destruction of towns and villages of Christians. Absolute horror.
Well done to the Aussies, very few would miss IS if they were wiped off the face of the earth.
And those warmongers in power that created them.
Well the warmongers who created them (Saudi Arabia and Co.) Are allied with the US so at worst they’ll be quietly asked to be a bit more discreet in their proxy wars in the region.
The most savage nations on the face of this planet are assisting on pulling the ropes on this coup to rob Syria of its dignity most notably Israel. The same ruthless bloodthirsty mentality that was behind the recent Gaza genocide will soon be applied to Syria once the Syrian Government is drawn into conflict which is inevitable.
Its also ironic that the United States is demonizing ISIS for over few faked beheading as a pretext to invade yet it is allied to Saudi Arabia is just as barbaric with its own decapitations with many for non violent offences.
They were not faked. And Syria is no better then those other nations. In Iran vs Saudi Arabia syria is on the side without the muscle. They’re no better or worse, just weaker. You need to grow up. And you need to learn the difference between staged and faked.
Gearóid Ó Murchadha You believe they are genuine because you saw it in the news on your flat screen television set.
I suggest you dig a little deeper, Jim Stone Freelance rips each and every one of these so called beheading to pieces pointing out all the flaws and discrepancies.
Also why is there so much coverage on these beheadings and and so little on the real casualties in Syria like those civilians struck by air strikes and children blown up by US sponsored terrorists. I guess all this is not important as making up excuses to over throw the Syrian government and rob the country blind of resources. .
Jim stone, the Fox news of indie media and freelance journalism! Well, if you believe anything that clown says your a bigger sheep then all the Fox news neocons on this website combined. For your information I don’t really get my news from any of the big news corporations, (in fact I don’t have a sky or upc subscription) although I do follow the headlines out of curiousity. The videos were all independently verified. Yes they were staged, very obviously and not in any secret false flag bullhonky way. Doesn’t change the fact that ISIS murdered those guys. And the reason there’s so much coverage is to get the public behind military action. It’s not a conspiracy, it’s the way it bloody works. But as long as there’s people like you making stuff up and lying there is no hope for the credible people out there that are opposed to US foreign policy. It’s because of you and you’re easily led ilk that I’m unable to discuss issues like this without being labelled “Looney left” and “Muslim apologist” and “furthering the liberal agenda”. Empty vessals make the most noise and anyone that can’t debate current affairs without resorting to shouting “false flag” etc… Certainly falls into that catagory. You’ll literally believe ANYTHING negative you read about the US, to the point were you deny the blatant and actually verifiable negative actions they carry out. You’re part of the problem, in fact I wouldn’t be suprised if the US covertly helps people like you spread your bull.
So what you’re saying Gearóid is false flags are stuff of conspiracy nuts fantasy right?
No, I’m saying not everything is a false flag, in fact massive false flag operations are rare. Not because governments are nice guys but because they are just not needed. Bad things do actually just happen sometimes. And governments capitalise on them. It’s that simple. And it doesn’t have to be some secret set up military attack. They do it for disasters (Katrina) when “helping” other countries (Poland), when the economy is in trouble (Ireland) or , in this case, then a murderous religious group is rampaging across a region you have a stake in.
So you say, with 100% assuredness that anyone that thinks that James Foley might be a CIA agent, under the cover of a photographer for Global Post, was used as a pretext to Libya getting destroyed as a Nation, could have been used again as another pretext for bombing Syria back to the Middle Ages, you know people fake their own deaths for financial among other reasons, is it so implausible that a state would do the same with the serious motive there and all for you, you say people are bonkers mad for thinking this?
Superb. Australia has always been a strong ally to the US. Practical military assistance rather than just rhetoric. Keep it going boys.
Who is your number 1 poodle these days? The UK dropped the ball on Syria last year for ye. Has Australia taken them over? I think the French have to be up there, although ye did have to blackmail them via BNP Paribas $10lbn fine to get them to drop the Mistral warship for the Russians.
LOL the Aussies are certainly up there John! Must be all those extra dollars we printed. The Marines have a base in Darwin (agreed with their Labour administration no less) and I expect that to expand as Obama correctly identified Asia as more worthy of attention.
Top US allies? My own guess is 1. Canada, 2. Australia, 3. UK, 4. Israel and 5. – close – yes maybe France at the moment. Good call by France to block that ship to Putin. Keeps the pressure on Putin the ‘Pres for life.’ I am also impressed by France’s commitment to peace enforcement in Africa.
That’s right Jurgen, I forgot all about Canada!
I think the French got some notions once upon a time that they could have a foreign policy independent of your good selves. I’ll bet Francois Hollande took a good look at what happens French men who don’t tow the Washginton line like Dominique Strauss Kahn. Ye certainly showed him who’s boss!
Yeah everyone forgets about Canada – they are like the solid, dependable wife in the background!
Strauss Kahn was the victim of the US govt? Come on! Maybe your buddy Frank will be along soon to offer more nutty theories.
It’s not that nutty Jurgen, DSK does appear to have been someone’s victim, although my suspicions have always been Sarcozy or someone close to him who viewed DSK as a potential domestic political threat.
I don’t doubt the man had many enemies. A guy who got to that position – and with his, shall we say ‘predilections,’ would have to have made many enemies. That does not mean he was set up. Until there is some tangible proof it’s speculation, theories and conspiracy theories that he was set up. The NYPD cleared him if I remember correctly.
Yes, but the NYPD clearing him actually raises the level of suspicion against someone in France. Under French law his identity would have been protected till conviction unlike in NY where his name is public upon arrest. Tbh I’d actually be a little disappointed if he wasn’t set up, because as a hatchet job it was beautifully orchestrated.
It was only a matter of time before little Britain got involved.
Yeah those little Aussie kids holding up decapitated heads for social media tipped the Aussies over edge
For the record Ireland is way more little Britain than Aussie ever will be.
This is pretty terrible http://m.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/the-photo-that-will-shock-the-world-jihadist-khaled-sharroufs-son-7-holds-severed-head/story-fni0cx12-1227019897582?nk=b03b92ca5a9692bf9cb390eaacbe4ea9
Ireland is not more little Britain. Australia is part of the commonwealth, we are not. Queen Elizabeth is their queen, not ours. They have the Union Jack on their flag, we do not. They are mostly descended from the British, we are not. They have never looked for independence, we did. Australia is Little Britain. Not Ireland.
Dude.
You’ve never been to the Middle East.
You’ve never been to Australia.
And you don’t know how many Australian Prime Ministers are Irish.
Relax Aussies suck but freelance
Don’t call me dude. We’re not a couple of 13 year old’s on Venice Beach. How do you know where i have and have not been. Big whoop if a few Australian prime ministers are of Irish descent, that doesn’t mean the other 20 million plus Australians are.
Sorry. I feel do insensitive. There is u
nimaginable pain and loss in this region. Prayers go out for all.
Its been nearly an hour since this news was posted and we still have not heard from Frank. I’m getting worried now , the CIA must have gotten to him
He was right on cue.
I usually don’t believe all that conspiracy crap but can someone explain to me how two weeks after the IS started a siege of the town of Kobane near the Syria border with Turkey that their forces are still not destroyed considering the air support from the most powerful air force and all its allies. Their positions have been known for a couple of weeks and they are static positions surrounding the town and yet they have not been destroyed yet. How is this not the case?
Also the USA estimate that there are 30,000 IS militants spread across a huge area the size of Britain so by all accounts there can be no more than 10,000 militants spread across the entire frontier with Iraqi Kurdistan. Considering that there are Peshmerga numbering at least 150,000 and they have air support from America, the UK,France and all the Arabian Gulf dictatorships, how the hell are they not making rapid advances. Judging on reports you hear in the media daily it seems of IS are losing 10, or maybe 20 militants in attacks but never of huge all out assaults against them. Why is this not happening. It seems to me this is a phoney war because when you consider the numbers amassed against IS and the air support why is the death toll so low. Also in Syria it seems a bit strange than rather than going after the militants they are predominantly targeting infrastructure such as oil refineries, wheat silos, administration buildings, airbases and army bases that mostly have been evacuated well in advance of the strikes. Seems to Americans are making sure to destroy all the infrastructure so that if Assad does take control of the are again there will be nothing useful left there for him. They say it is because they want to stop their oil revenue but the way to stop that is to ensure their Nato allies Turkey stop allowing IS to trade oil in Turkey with impunity.
“Their positions have been known for a couple of weeks and they are static positions surrounding the town and yet they have not been destroyed yet” and you know this how ???????????????????????????????
Another clown that makes s*it up to support their wacky theory.
Try a double dose of your tabs and see if it helps with your paranoia
You know what would be nice in Syria? I nice big mushroom cloud. That would be quite a sight.
I dont think isis are massed together in great lumps out in the open where it would be easy to bomb them into the next world, but they are based within towns etc where bombing would kill civilians. We know this wouldnt stop the israelis (ie, gaza) but at least this western coalition is trying to be more precise and therefore each raid will be more surgical than general with subsequent lesser effect. Give them time and better intelligence and the job will be done
OK Tom, out with it? Let’s hear your thoughts on it? Your own thoughts.
Fantastic contribution there Tom, care to comment on anything I have said, rather than throw out childish insults like a pathetic little kid. You are probably clueless as to what is happening in Kobane at the moment but every single day for the last two weeks there have been reports in western media including the BBC and the Guardian(would they be included in making up sh*t to support a whacky theory), about how ISIS have besieged the town and are constantly shelling it, and how they are moving to within a km of the town perimeter. If you bothered to look at a map of Kobane you would realise that all these reports of them being so close to the town would mean they are in open terrain. Journalists just over the border in Turkey are also reporting on the fighting around the town which is visible from their positions.
You see pjm, I know I’m clueless as to what is going in Kobane. I also know you are too. Proper information as to what is happening is practically impossible to get as it is cut off. However it is a bit inconsiderate of isis not to gather into a tidy little group to allow their annihilation in a timely and tidy manner, to keep it understandable for you.
As for the hitting of oil refineries etc in Syria, cutting funding is always the first priority. Isis having been selling oil to Turkey but that is only one direction it has been selling and considering they are selling it at less than half the open market rate they will find customers.
What is going on ?????????????? As in all wars it boils down to a simple struggle for power or at a minimum to control who is in power. One thing for certain, a “phoney war” it is not !
The usual suspects are lining up to bomb another muslim country. We should be letting Iraq and Syria do this. ISIS will not be defeated, their support will increase, there will be boots on the ground. Only the most simple dullard can believe that a group like ISIS can be defeated by dropping a few bombs. Meanwhile extremism will be on the rise here and we will continue to lose our freedom
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/sep/30/theresa-may-ban-extremists-television
ISIS will not be defeated until the Zi0nist agenda of taking out the Syrian and Iran government is accomplished.
Iraq and Syria don’t have the means to deliver airstrikes as effectively. I agree about boots on the ground though.
I hope we bomb the living fukc out of them. Time to see a few ISIS heads on sticks.
The Iraqi Government requested assistance. ISIS/ISIL/IS is not an Islamic country – it is a rogue attempt at creating an illegal state put under Sharia law. This is one situation where international intervention is merited. ISIS are inflicting massive pain on anyone that does not conform to their worldview, anywhere they spread.
They need to be stopped. And military action is the only way to do it. They can’t be reasoned with.
Yep John Bomb them and deport any sympathisers here in Ireland and don’t let them back in. If the guards find a suspect traveling to fight in Syria for IS then arrest them if they return here!
I know I shouldn’t but I keep thinking of the two Fosters guys and the paddle of rebuke…
There is something funny about one religious extremist leading a country against other religious extremists… but they have done one thing right… women wearing burqa or niqab will not be allowed to sit with the general public in Parliament but will have to sit in a glassed off enclosure. Hopefully they will soon be prevented from travelling on publuc transport as well.
But if course Tony now that you’ve done a great job of talking up the local threat. Little Britain is a good name but mini USA is probably nearer the mark. How high Mr President?
Good on Tony Abbott. At least he is not indecisive. Can’t help thinking though that if we had left well enough alone back in 1991 then all this would not be required. Too late now that the damage was done years ago and this action is required. This IS mob are pure evil.
On another note why hasn’t more been made about the delivery of weapons to the Iraqi military base that was “mistakenly” delivered to ISIS instead ? Reported in the Washington post . Seems like a pretty big thing to bush aside and ignore
That’s only the top of the iceberg, Its also been documented that hundreds of Iraq soldiers have been wiped out by US air strikes intended on ISIS targets. This is not mentioning the infrastructure already targeted by the US Airfarce in Syria.
We are only told very little if any truth of what is going on behind the scenes through the Western Mainstream Media.
The Video documentary was removed and no mention of this in MSM
Ab, you don’t change do you. Still talking absolute drivel. Theres ‘proof’ ?
Stephen, let’s even the scale so. Can you post your proof? Sources even. Cheers.
It’s mad, no matter hold old a person is, peer pressure and the desire to be apart of something stays from childhood.
Stephen Earle .. I see the Western Mainstream Media has completely forgotten about that bomb that went off in Homs beside that kindergarten school. The one caused by US sponsored “moderate” terrorists.
Will we see a lot more of this happen?
Is that talking absolute drivel.?
Fars sums it up.
http://s3.postimg.org/i04j0ezgj/car196.jpg
# US mistakenly killed 70 Iraqi soldiers !
SO ISIS is a threat to Australia now? About as likely as kangaroos making it to the Ark.
What a load of crap.
Charley, haven’t been keeping up with the news have you. Australia may be a long way from the middle east but they have had credible jihadist threats within australia recently and there are Australian jihadists fighting for isis
Stephen, where on earth are you getting that info? The news?
That’s why a guy holding a ISIS flag stab two cops with the incentive to cut their heads off and put the flag over them as he took a picture. Pull your fu*king head in
Stephen Earle . “credible” jihadist threats” or should it be rephrased “a pretext for false flag terrorism”.
The Australian authorities are itching themselves to usher in the police state just like America has being doing .
20+ they think are fighting over there; many have been arrested and many also have had passports cancelled. Also, young Afghan lad was killed recently by federal police after he attacked a police officer with a knife, stabbing him in the face, arm and chest.
Her refused to drop his knife and was shot dead; he also had been watched and had also had his passport cancelled.
We may be a long distance from the Middle East but it seems social media is how these impressionable young men are being radicalised,
Marguerite, where did you hear this?
Stop trolling Jason!
Mac, grab a dictionary.
Bombs away tony hooray..
So the more countries that attack ‘ISIS’®, the greater the chance and span of retaliations to occur in their respective home countries.
A snowball effect. Just like Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya.
The perpetual war that vested interests don’t want to end. Which it won’t.
The Middle East is such a convoluted mess it is almost impossible to take any action which achieves one objective without collateral damage or igniting another fire. Will Tony Abbott’s actions help? Very difficult to say, however Abbott is sending a clear message that Australia is prepared to act locally and internationally when it’s interests are threatened and this can only be good news for the millions of Australians of Irish decent and the hundreds of thousands of Irish passport holders currently resident in Australia who see their government taking steps to protect them from murdering Islamic Jihadists who seek to end our democratic western way of life.
In comparison his predecessor Julia Gillard would have wrung her hands, called her spin doctor, and then advised Australians not to be too upset as hundreds of boatloads of ISIS ‘refugees’ arrived on Australian shores.
Fingers crossed if enough bombs are dropped John!
Ireland called help militarily but perhaps we could send the members of the Dail over there to bore IS to death?
Tony Abbott is a great leader! Good on ya Tony!!
http://youtu.be/c3IaKVmkXuk
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