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| Down Under |
| Australia deploying more troops to Afghanistan |
| 2006-01-10 |
| Australia will send an extra 110 troops to Afghanistan to bolster the fight against Islamist militants, increasing its presence in the country to about 300, the Australian government said on Tuesday. The deployment, which includes two Chinook helicopters, would provide additional medical evacuation and air mobility support to 190 Australian special forces troops in Afghanistan, it said. Australia's special forces were sent to Afghanistan in July to help hunt down Taliban and al Qaeda fighters who have doggedly pursued a violent insurgency since a 2001 U.S.-led invasion ousted the Taliban for harbouring the militant al Qaeda network. "(Australia's extra troops) will be deployed as part of Australia's continuing commitment to the fight against terrorism," Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile, who is acting prime minister while John Howard is on holiday, told Australian radio. Australia initially sent 1,550 troops to Afghanistan in 2001 to join the U.S.-led attack, including special forces who were involved in some of the earliest and fiercest fighting. Defense Minister Robert Hill said the helicopters and extra troops would be fully operational by March and would remain in Afghanistan for the rest of the special forces deployment, which is due to finish in September. "Afghanistan has made significant progress since its liberation from the Taliban and it is important the international community continues to work together with the Afghan government to ensure progress continues," Hill said in a statement. The Australian Greens party said the country should be withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan, not sending more. "Our troops should be in Australia and our neighborhood where our national interests are concentrated," Greens leader Bob Brown said in a statement. The Australian government is also due to decide whether to send a 200-strong reconstruction team to Afghanistan. The Australian newspaper reported on Tuesday that a reconstruction team would be deployed in April, but Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told reporters in Washington no final decision had been made. The Australian deployment comes as NATO urged the Dutch parliament on Monday to approve a government plan to send 1,400 more troops to Afghanistan, warning insurgents would exploit any delay in alliance efforts to step up peacekeeping. The North Atlantic alliance is looking to raise its troop numbers in Afghanistan by 6,000 to more than 15,000 to help ease the burden on the larger U.S.-led coalition there. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #5 Thank you Diggers. Godspeed! |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-01-10 13:43 |
| #4 I bet those troops are thanking their lucky stars that they get to have a piece of the action. Such field experience is priceless, and cannot be replicated in ordinary training. The opportunity to get same invariably results in major reforms throughout a military. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-01-10 12:40 |
| #3 Amen sistah and brutha! |
| Posted by: Ptah 2006-01-10 12:30 |
| #2 God Bless the Aussies! |
| Posted by: The Angry Fliegerabwehrkanonen 2006-01-10 09:06 |
| #1 Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Oy, oy, oy! Thanks mates! And especially for being the kind of troops that don't refuse to go where the danger is. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-01-10 07:12 |