Islamic State: Tony Abbott says Australia has 'clear objective' to fight IS militants in Iraq

Updated

Prime Minister Tony Abbott says Australia's mission in Iraq has a "specific and clear objective" to fight Islamic State (IS) militants and "hopefully" drive them from Iraq.

Australian fighter jets and about 600 military personnel, including special forces soldiers, will be sent to the Middle East in the next fortnight.

They will be stationed in the United Arab Emirates on standby for action in Iraq.

Mr Abbott said the Government would make a "final judgment" about combat operations in "the next week or so".

He said the mission could take "many, many months" but has emphasised there was a specific "fundamentally humanitarian" objective.

"I'm not saying that this will be over in weeks or even necessarily in just a few months," he said.

"But there is a very specific and clear objective to disrupt and degrade IS, to do as much damage as possibly can be done to IS and hopefully to drive it from Iraq."

He stressed that this action differed from the 2003 war in Iraq because the Iraqi government has welcomed the international military involvement.

"It's a very different government, it's a very different coalition, to the one that we last saw in this part of the world," Mr Abbott said.

The Prime Minister said he expected the situation in Iraq to be "front and centre" at next week's UN Security Council meeting in New York, which he will attend and which will be chaired by US president Barack Obama.

"This is a mission, it is a mission to be ready to join an international coalition to destroy this hideous death cult," Mr Abbott said of IS.

Defence Minister David Johnston told the ABC's 7.30 program he thought it was possible to destroy IS.

"I believe the end game is that we will disrupt and potentially destroy what is in the minds of the leadership of ISIL and that is to set up a separate caliphate state that is ruled by Sharia law and all of the things that go with that," Mr Johnston said.

"We've seen how quickly these people move. We've seen the level of atrocities they deliver onto the ground to innocent people. So we must respond."

US Ambassador to Australia John Berry said he welcomed Australia's contribution.

"The United States welcomes Australia's contribution to multinational efforts against these brutal terrorists who threaten not only Iraqis and Syrians but the broader international community," he said in a statement.

"We will coordinate closely with our ally Australia and other coalition partners as we work to defeat this threat to humanity."

The US has signalled potential air strikes against Syria, but Mr Abbott said it was not the Government's intention for the Australian mission to expand beyond Iraq.

"There's a big difference between combat operations within Iraq that will be conducted with the full approval of the Iraqi government and combat operations inside Syria which is effectively un-governed space and whose government Australia does not actually recognise," he said.

Abbott dismisses Greens criticism as 'simply false'

Labor is - so far - in lockstep with the Government over the deployment.

But the Greens have been deeply critical, saying there was no limit to the numbers of personnel nor the duration of their involvement.

"We are blindly following the United States," Greens leader Christine Milne said.

"There's no clear definition from our Government as to what would constitute success."

Attorney-General George Brandis said the concern about an end date is "absurd" and Mr Abbott said the Greens are "simply false".

"We have made a clear-eyed assessment of our national interest," he said.

On the domestic front, the Government is pushing ahead with new laws to crack down on foreign fighters, with legislation expected before parliament in the next couple of weeks.

Mr Abbott warned Australians not to travel to the Middle East to join terrorist groups.

"It is very dangerous. It is wrong. It is against God. It is against religion. It is against our common humanity," he said.

Crossbench senator and former soldier Jacqui Lambie called for even more hardline action.

The Palmer United Party senator said anyone who supports sharia law in Australia should be banned from receiving Government payments and lose their right to vote.

"I just say anyone who supports sharia law in Australia should not have the right to vote, should not get government handouts and should probably pack up their bags and get out of here - that's what I'm saying," she said.

Senator Lambie also wants a Veteran's Affairs Gold Health Card given to all Defence Force personnel involved in the mission, to address the mental and physical health impacts when they return.

"Right now the suicide level has gone through the roof, when it comes to these men and women who have been in Afghanistan and Iraq over the past 13 or 14 years - and East Timor - and something needs to be done and it needs to be done right now," she said.

Senator Lambie said the move would not cost any more because of the resultant fall in the defence administrative budget.

Nations gather in Paris to discuss IS strategy

Meanwhile representatives of almost 40 countries which have agreed to be part of the US plan to combat IS militants have gathered at an international conference in Paris.

The meeting was co-hosted by the presidents of France and Iraq, and aimed to reach agreement on a strategy to combat the militants.

French president Francois Hollande said Islamic State was a terrorist group which required a global response.

"This terrorist movement also uses fighters who come from around the world... and each country including my own country is affected by this," he said.

"Therefore we have to do everything in order to combat the indoctrination of our youth, to prevent them being enrolled."

French aircraft will begin reconnaissance flights over Iraq on Monday (local time).

Iraqi president Fuad Masum called for rapid air strikes against the jihadists.

"They need to act quickly because if there is a delay, if this campaign and this support for Iraq is delayed, maybe Daesh will occupy other territories and their threat will be even bigger," he said.

Daesh is an alternative name for IS.

Topics: world-politics, government-and-politics, terrorism, unrest-conflict-and-war, security-intelligence, defence-and-national-security, federal-government, federal-parliament, australia, iraq, syrian-arab-republic

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