Abbott urged to rule out more troops as US boosts force to tackle IS in Iraq

TONY Abbott has been urged to rule out “mission creep” for Australia after the US approved an extra 1500 troops to Iraq to combat Islamic State.

THE Greens have called on Tony Abbott to rule out “mission creep” for Australia after the US committed an extra 1500 troops to Iraq to combat Islamic State.

US President Barack Obama gave his approval today to roughly double his country’s troops in Iraq, to aid the Baghdad government and Kurdish forces fighting the IS jihadist group.

The 1500 will include advisers and trainers who will be deployed across the country.

The Australian government announced last month it was sending 200 special forces troops to Iraq to help fight Islamic State extremists and Australian war planes have participated in international air strikes.

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Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, who is at the APEC summit in Beijing, met US Secretary of State John Kerry today to discuss both Australian and US commitment to the region, as well as the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

She said they discussed a timeframe in combating IS, as well as the work Australian special forces would be undertaking.

“I don’t think anybody was under any illusions that this would be easy. ISIL is well funded, well resourced, with apparently 16,000 fighters or more from 80 different countries,” Ms Bishop told a news conference.

“When you are dealing with an ideology, it’s very hard to know what a complete mission would look like.

“It will take time, it will take effort from a number of countries.”

But Greens leader Christine Milne said the US decision to increase ground troops confirmed her fears that Australia was involved in “mission creep”.

“It started off with a humanitarian response, then it moved to dropping weapons, then it moved to committing to air strikes and special forces,” she told reporters.

“Now we have the Americans significantly increasing their contribution of boots on the ground.”

She called on the Prime Minister to rule out increasing the number of Australian special forces.

While Mr Abbott welcomed the US announcement, he gave no indication that Australia’s current commitment to the region would change.

“Our commitment is clear, it’s up to eight Super Hornet strike aircraft ... it’s up to 200 special forces,” he said in Melbourne.

“We have made a strong commitment to disrupting and degrading the ISIL death cult and we continue to talk with our partners and allies about how this is best achieved.”

The increased US deployment was “a matter for them and for the Iraqi government”.

AAP