| Australia's special forces in the Middle East have been given their mission should war break out against Iraq - to locate weapons of mass destruction threats to coalition forces and neutralise the impact on troops if the attacks occur. "The strategic imperative for the Australians is weapons of mass destruction," a source said. "The operational and tactical side of the deployment flows from that objective." According to the insider the Australian military and its US and British allies are concerned that Saddam Hussein, with his regime at stake, will use chemical or biological weapons to slow and demoralise the US-led ground advance to Baghdad. |