Tony Abbott and Barack Obama unite to confront terror

TONY Abbott is open to hosting more US forces on Australian soil as he deepens the alliance between the two nations.

Fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) celebrate on vehicles taken from Iraqi security forces, at a street in city of Mosul, June 12, 2014. Since Tuesday, black clad ISIL fighters have seized Iraq's second biggest city Mosul and Tikrit, home town of former dictator Saddam Hussein, as well as other towns and cities north of Baghdad. They continued their lightning advance on Thursday, moving into towns just an hour's drive from the capital. Picture taken June 12, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS CONFLICT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR3TJYM This REUTERS image is exclusively for use in The Australian only.

TONY Abbott is open to hosting more US forces on Australian soil as he deepens the alliance between the two nations and pled­ges help to confront terror threats.

The Prime Minister said there would be “plenty of movements of military assets” as Australia comes to the aid of its most important ally as well as helping neighbours to ensure stability in the region. He told The Weekend Australian that he wanted to tighten the security relationship with Indon­esia by drawing on the “five eyes” intelligence network to identify extremists.

Emerging from his first substantial meeting with the US President, Barack Obama, the Prime Minister also fuelled talk of military intervention in Iraq after he refused to rule out the option. Economic challenges also figured in Mr Abbott’s lengthy meeting with Mr Obama yesterday when the two leaders canvassed ways to accelerate a regional trade deal to add billions of dollars to global growth.

Before he flies home tomor­row from a 10-day tour to key allies, the Prime Minister talked of making a “lasting improvement” in Australia’s standing from his talks with world leaders.

“We’ve reminded people, in various countries, including here in the United States, that we are a rather more significant actor on the world stage than they might always be inclined to think,” he told The Weekend Australian.

Mr Obama lauded Australia yesterday in public remarks at the end of the meeting with Mr Abbott in the Oval Office of the White House, which was joined by Vice-President Joe Biden and other senior figures. “Aussies know how to fight and I like having them in a foxhole if we’re in trouble,” the President declared.

Mr Abbott responded with a cautious message about taking military action.

“We don’t want to be in foxholes, full stop, but if we need to take shelter it’s good to have Australians and Americans side by side,” the Prime Minister said.

As terror groups routed the Iraqi army in Mosul, the two leaders talked of threats to peace in the Middle East and Asia, just before Mr Obama told ­reporters that “all options” were on the table to respond to the setbacks in Iraq.

Mr Abbott said he would not rule out Australian military involvement in Iraq to help subdue the latest attacks.

“I hope it doesn’t come to that, of course, but this is a serious situation and it does need to be dealt with,” he told Sky News.

Mr Abbott is in Houston today to talk to business leaders in the oil and gas industry before flying to Hawaii for a refuelling stop as well as a meeting with the US Pacific Command.

He returns to Canberra early on Monday in time for the resumption of parliament.

Military ties dominated the talks at the White House as the two leaders approved a legal agreement that formal­ises the deployment of about 1300 US Marines to the Northern Territory.

Mr Obama talked of the ability to gain “additional reach” around the region using the agreement.

“We actually have arrived at additional agreements around force postures that will enhance the bilateral co-operation bet­ween our militaries and give us ­additional reach throughout this very important part of the world,” he said.

One option for closer co-­operation is to base more US Navy destroyers and other vessels at HMAS Stirling in Western Australia, giving the US the ­capacity to project force further into the region.

While Australia already has about 1300 Marines in Darwin under the first announcement of the joint operations, in November 2011, it needs the legal framework to scale up the deployments over time.

“We’ve got an agreement for 2500 to rotate through every year and I think that’s really important,” Mr Abbott said.

By the time he flies home, Mr Abbott will have held private talks with US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel, General Martin Dempsey of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Secretary of State John Kerry and other top officials ­including the heads of most intelligence agencies.

The Weekend Australian was told that some members of congress expressed concern at the way that the leaks from the ­National Security Agency and its contractor Edward Snowden had damaged Australia.

The Prime Minister has spoken up in favour of the Five Eyes intelligence partnership between the US, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Indonesia could now benefit from informations shared through the network.

“The Indonesians know that the work we’ve already been able to do with them, drawing on the five eyes network, has been very helpful to them and that’s what we want to deepen,” Mr Abbott said.