Australian advisers in Iraq won’t ‘normally engage in actual combat’

AUSTRALIAN military advisers in Iraq would be entitled to return fire if they came under attack, Tony Abbott says.

Photographer: Corporal Jamie Osborne Caption: Two soldiers maintain a watchful eye on the area. Australian soldiers maintain security 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Title: Construction complete, Taliban repelled Deep Caption: The Reconstruction Task Force (RTF) has constructed a police out-post in the Tarin Kowt region. The strategically-sited out-post was completed in six days under trying circumstances, including two unsuccessful attacks by the Taliban. Facilities such as these strengthen the security infrastructure and add to the capability of the local police, which is essential to stamp out the intimidation and terror tactics employed by the Taliban. Australia has deployed an ADF Reconstruction Task Force (RTF), consisting of a combined arms team, to the Oruzgan Province in southern Afghanistan as part of Operation Slipper. The RTF is in partnership with the Netherlands Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) and forms part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. The RTF has a clearly defined role to work on reconstruction, improvement of provincial infrastructure and community based projects. The RTF also provides trade training to the local population and military engineering training to the Afghan National Army. This type of assistance is designed to benefit the people of Oruzgan Province and form building blocks of a stable and prosperous community. The RTF contains around 370 ADF personnel from predominately Queensland-based units. It includes elements to provide command, security, engineering, and administrative support and is equipped with Bushmaster Infantry Mobility Vehicles (IMV), Australian Light Armoured Vehicles (ASLAVs) and armoured engineer plant equipment. *** Local Caption *** Australia has deployed an ADF Reconstruction Task Force (RTF), consisting of a combined arms team, to the Oruzgan Province in Southern Afghanistan as part of Operation Slipper. The RTF is in partnership with the Netherlands Pro

AUSTRALIAN military advisers under fire in Iraq would be entitled to return fire, Tony Abbott said, as Barack Obama’s top military officer raised the prospect of “close combat” operations against Islamic State militants.

As a former senior Army strategist urged the government to embrace “mission creep” in Iraq, the Prime Minister clarified his vision for the 200 Australian special forces advisers to be sent to help Peshmerga and Iraqi security forces.

He said the Australian soldiers would “not themselves normally engage in actual combat”, although the troops “will certainly be armed and, if they’re fired upon, they’ll be entitled to respond”.

“Normally battalion headquarters are not themselves involved in combat operations — they’re directing combat operations, they’re oversighting combat operations, they’re planning combat operations — but they are not usually conducting combat operations themselves,” Mr Abbott said.

“Obviously they’ll be moving around with those unit headquarters but the point I stress is there is no intention for Australia to conduct independent combat operations inside Iraq.”

Australia has committed 600 defence personnel to the campaign to fight Islamic State in Iraq and has refused to rule out striking targets in Syria.

The US is deploying 600 military advisers n Iraq but both Washington and Canberra are playing down talk of using ground troops.

However General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told congress overnight he might recommend the President order “close-combat advising” of Iraqi forces in actions against Islamic State.

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Michael Krause, a retired Australian major-general involved with planning the coalition campaign in Afghanistan in 2011 and 2012, said Western forces must “embrace mission change” in Iraq, predicting the current military commitment will fall short of destroying IS.

“Our adversary will change over time and therefore we have to be prepared to change our commitment over time. If you’re not prepared to do that at the outset then you’re not facing the reality,” Mr Krause told ABC Radio.

“We need to accept that mission creep will occur and we should welcome it. If we start right from the start and say that there are limits on what we will do, our adversary can simply outwait us, and indeed change so that we are forced into a change. We should embrace mission change. It’s a very, very clear indication of intent.”

Mr Krause warned action against IS militants in Syria “will have to be factored in, in time”.

“I note that our Prime Minister has at this stage forbade us from operating into Syria. That is a fair and reasonable restraint at this time, but what we do not want to do is create Syria as a sanctuary” for IS, he said.

General Dempsey told a US Senate committee: “If we reach the point where I believe our advisers should accompany Iraqi troops on attacks against specific ISIL targets, I will recommend that to the President.”

General Dempsey stressed the advisers are “very much in a combat-advisory role” and it was not “necessary right now” for them to engage in combat.

However, if there were an “extraordinarily complex” operation planned by Iraqi forces, such as a bid to recapture the rebel-held city of Mosul, then advisers could head to the front, he said.

The Prime Minister’s parliamentary secretary, Josh Frydenberg, stressed General Dempsey was discussing a hypothetical.

“(General Dempsey) did say he wasn’t making a recommendation to the President to send combat troops into Iraq. That is the current position of the United States government, and it’s certainly the position of the Australian government,” he said.

Mr Abbott yesterday said Australia’s role in the Middle East was “constantly subject to review” and would not rule out eventually striking targets in Syria.

Greens leader Christine Milne raised fresh concerns about “mission creep”, saying General Dempsey’s testimony raised the prospect that Australia was following the US into an “open-ended war” that would include boots on the ground.

“The Prime Minister, as he is farewelling the troops, should be honest enough with them to say that he has followed the US blindly into this new war in the Middle East,” she said.

A RAAF C-17A Globemaster flying from the Albanian capital, Tirana, last night delivered small arms ammunition to the Kurdish regional government and returned to Al-Minhad Air Base in the United Arab Emirates.

The shipment was inspected and cleared by Iraqi officials in Baghdad, the Department of Defence said.

Additional reporting: AFP