"If Tony Abbott wants us to be gun runners for the Kurds at the behest of the United States then we are part of the war," Mr Wilkie told reporters in Hobart.

But Mr Wilkie condemned the cabinet national security committee call saying federal parliament should have had a say on the matter.

A question of mission creep? Greens leader Christine Milne says parliament should debate the decision to drop arms in Iraq. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

A former senior intelligence analyst turned whistleblower, Mr Wilkie resigned from his post at the Office of National Assessments in 2003 in protest at Australia's role in the Iraq war.

Greens leader Christine Milne called on Mr Abbott to suspend all other matters in parliament on Monday to debate Australia's involvement in Iraq.

Senator Milne asked if the transportation of arms was a sign of "mission creep", and whether it would lead to troops on the ground.

"If we're going to start, where is it going to end?" she told reporters in Hobart.

"It is more important that ever that the prime minister tells Australians what is the strategy here, what are we going to commit to."