Islamic State: Australian military stretched with deployment to international fight against IS militants, experts say

Updated

The Australian military will be stretched by the decision to join the US-led operation against Islamic State (IS) militants, defence experts say.

Australian fighter jets and about 600 military personnel, including special forces soldiers, will be deployed to the Middle East this week.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the United States had specifically requested Australia contribute to an international campaign against the militants, who have captured large swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria.

Mr Abbott said about 200 personnel would be sent to the United Arab Emirates within days, including a special forces contingent "that could act as military advisers to the Iraqi armed forces or to the Peshmerga".

They would be followed by about 400 Air Force personnel, up to eight F/A-18F Super Hornet jets, an early warning and control aircraft, and an aerial refuelling aircraft.

Speaking from Arnhem Land this morning, Mr Abbott said the mission could last "many, many months" and withdrawal would depend on a broad goal being met.

"If the Iraqi government, the Kurdish regional government are able to maintain reasonable control over their substantial towns, reasonable protection for their own people, that will be success," he told ABC News Breakfast.

"We're not trying to create a liberal, pluralist democracy, we're not trying to create a shining city on the hill.

"What we're trying to do is to help the people of Iraq to help themselves so that people who are based in their country will no longer threaten us."

The US has signalled there could be air strikes in Syria, but Mr Abbott says Australia's role will be limited to Iraq.

Greens leader Christine Milne has criticised the deployment, saying there is no end date nor any limit on the number of personnel who could be involved.

But Attorney-General George Brandis has rejected the minor party's stance.

"The suggestion that we can go into this theatre, and withdraw by a specific date, which seems to be Senator Milne's suggestion, is an absurdity," he said on RN.

Mr Abbott compared the current situation in the Middle East with previous conflicts Australia has been involved with.

"The Middle East is a witch's brew of complexity and danger. There are no easy options. There are no options without risk. If you look at the intervention, the full-scale intervention in Iraq in 2003, we are at the present pass," he said.

"If you look at the less intense intervention in Libya, that has hardly had happy consequences, but if you look at the complete non-intervention in Syria, the consequences seem to be even worse."

Defence experts say Middle East deployment will test Australia's resources

Former Army officer John Blaxland from the Australian National University (ANU) said the deployment would put a lot of pressure on Australia's Defence resources.

Force deployed to combat IS 8 F/A-18F Super Hornet aircraft

1 early warning and control aircraft

1 aerial refuelling aircraft

400 personnel to support air deployment

200 military personnel, including a special forces contingent to act as "military advisors"

"If we've got 600 people on the ground, we're talking about 1,800 troops who are going to be in the rotation cycle," he said.

"You might think that's not that many but, in terms of the ADF's (Australian Defence Force) ability to raise, train, sustain and project the forces, that leaves very little room for any other contingencies."

Neil James from the Australia Defence Association said the deployment would be a test for the Royal Australian Air Force.

"We haven't taken any of those aircraft to war before," he said.

The Government said deployments of personnel and assets would begin this week as preparation for action.

Mr Abbott insisted a final decision to commit to combat was yet to be made.

"Should this extend into combat operations, it could go on for some time," he said.

Professor Clive Williams from ANU said combat troops could be needed on the ground, because the US airstrikes in Iraq were starting to run out of militant targets.

But he said Australia's contribution to the military strike against IS militants could lead to civilian deaths.

"The targets on the ground were mainly vehicles run by IS and most of those have now been destroyed," he said.

"IS is now really back embedded in the civilian population, so air strikes would tend to kill obviously civilians as well."

Ground troops will be needed to destroy IS, Kerry says

US secretary of state John Kerry said he was "extremely encouraged" by pledges of military assistance against IS militants by countries inside and outside the Middle East.

Analysis: Michael Brissenden Defence correspondent Michael Brissenden told ABC News 24 it is an "open-ended" commitment.



The PM says that no decision yet has been made on actually deploying them from the base at UAE but clearly they're being deployed there with the intent to do just that.



There will be no Australian troops' boots on the ground as such.



Although SAS personnel will be involved in training Peshmerga and Iraqi forces and advising them and, in that sense, there'll be boots on the ground, they won't be involved in the combat.



The interesting thing about this though is that it is a very much an open-ended commitment.



The PM said it would be months rather than weeks. He says our contribution will ... continue to be monitored continuously.



Mr Kerry, who had been touring the Middle East to find support for the US mission, also said the strategy for confronting IS was still "coming together as the coalition comes together".

"We have countries in this region, countries outside of this region, in addition to the United States, all of whom are prepared to engage in military assistance, in actual strikes if that is what it requires," he said.

"And we also have a growing number of people who are prepared to do all the other things."

Mr Kerry said some countries have offered ground troops to the effort.

"Ultimately to destroy ISIL we do need to have a force, an anvil against which they will be pushed - ideally Sunni forces," he said, using an another acronym for IS.

"We're not looking to put troops on the ground. There are some who have offered to do so."

He did not name the countries but said the US was "not looking for that at this moment anyway".

Mr Kerry last week won the backing for a "coordinated military campaign" from 10 Arab countries - Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and six Gulf states including rich rivals Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Almost 40 countries have now offered to contribute to the multi-national coalition, Mr Kerry said.

'Cruelty on an extraordinary scale'

Australia has already delivered weapons to outgunned Kurdish forces and dropped humanitarian aid to communities under siege from IS.

Mr Abbott's announcement came after IS released a video purporting to show the beheading of captured British aid worker David Haines.

Sorry, this video has expired Video: The implications of sending troops to Iraq (7pm TV News ACT)

The footage, described by British prime minister David Cameron as "pure evil", followed the same pattern as videos of showing the murder of American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff.

Mr Abbott said he reacted to the video with "shock, horror, outrage, fury", adding that it strengthened his resolve to defeat IS.

The Prime Minister will visit New York on September 24 and 25 to participate in the high-level UN Security Council meeting which is to be convened by US president Barack Obama.

Last week, in a speech broadcast live to the nation, Mr Obama said he would not send US combat troops to fight IS, and that the US would act in concert with a broad coalition including Western allies and Arab states.

"Our objective is clear: we will degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL through a comprehensive and sustained counter-terrorism strategy," Mr Obama said.

Mr Obama outlined a four-pronged strategy which included expanded air strikes and sending another 475 troops to train local forces.

ABC/Reuters

Topics: world-politics, defence-forces, defence-and-national-security, terrorism, unrest-conflict-and-war, asia, australia, iraq

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