Australia could send more troops to Iraq

Australia had never ruled out sending more troops to Iraq, Defence Minister Robert Hill said.

Senator Hill said now was not the time to consider winding down Australia's commitment to the strife-torn country, following the first democratic elections in decades.

Australia is about to take its most senior role in the conflict, taking command of the naval force at the northern end of the Gulf, protecting oil rigs and deterring smugglers.

"We've never ruled out more troops but they are decisions that government takes in the circumstances of our ongoing evaluation," Senator Hill told ABC TV's Insiders program.

"For the moment, we are going to take over command of the naval force at the northern end of the Gulf. This will be at a higher level of command than we've ever held before so that's a contribution of reinforcement in a way.

source

Its interesting that an Aussie will be in command of the naval force.
Just how high level command is this post?
If Aust sends more troops it should be the SAS to fight the insurgents.
Mods if this is in the wrong thread feel free to move it.

If the Aussies were in Iraq, I've never head about it. When was the last news report about an Australian convoy being attacked or one of their bases being mortared? Not to say they are not there, There are troops from Bali in Iraq...Ya...8 of them. That is what the country could spare. You know what they do all day? They go shopping at the base PX and use the phones to call home and say that they are in the war zone.

If countries are going to send troops, they should send fighters. Austrailia has an excellent SAS group. Maybe they are operating in Iraq and that hasn't been published yet.

TacOps Security the fact you didnt know about Aussie troops in Iraq says alot about the american ignorance . Here some Info info

You have to bear in mind that not all countries have the sheer numbers the US military do. What makes you think the insurgents wouldnt attack RAN ships?

Aust was one of the few countries that took part in the invasion of Iraq its statments like yours that give people reasons to dislike americans. Still on the credit side of the ledger you know about the aussie SAS theres hope for you yet.

Originally posted by xpert11
TacOps Security the fact you didnt know about Aussie troops in Iraq says alot about the american ignorance . Here some Info info

You have to bear in mind that not all countries have the sheer numbers the US military do. What makes you think the insurgents wouldnt attack RAN ships?

Aust was one of the few countries that took part in the invasion of Iraq its statments like yours that give people reasons to dislike americans. Still on the credit side of the ledger you know about the aussie SAS theres hope for you yet.

LOLDont get your panties in a bunch. There a many countries in Iraq that I am sure I would be surprised about. I saw alot of them I spent a many a night there last year. My point was what are these other Armies doing in Iraq? Are they operating missions, or doing admin on the base. Dont get me started about the some of the worthless warm bodies that some countries ponyed up. Even when they had American troops backing them, they ran for the hills.

TacOps Security Do you care to name some of the worthless troops came from or is it just a statment to start a flame war ?
Were you apart of the US Military effort in Iraq?
What do you mean by " what are these other Armies doing in Iraq?" thats a dumb question there doing what the yanks are doing on a smaller scale.

The troops know who the worthless ones are. In fact the worthless ones know too!

Nope...not starting a flame. Im puting it out. Enjoy the rest of your boring topic. Since you and I are the only ones making any conversation, it speaks for itself.

It really doesnt matter what I did or where I did it. Its done.

Originally posted by TacOps Security
If the Aussies were in Iraq, I've never head about it.

That's the way I like it.

When was the last news report about an Australian convoy being attacked or one of their bases being mortared?

www.smh.com.au...
www.abc.net.au...
www.news24.com... www.theage.com.au... m=storylhs

Google is your friend. It's very simple to use.

Measuring a military's contribution by the amount of attacks they receive or number of casualties inflicted on them is really quite stupid.

Originally posted by TacOps Security
The troops know who the worthless ones are. In fact the worthless ones know too!

Nope...not starting a flame. Im puting it out. Enjoy the rest of your boring topic. Since you and I are the only ones making any conversation, it speaks for itself.

It really doesnt matter what I did or where I did it. Its done.

Just as I thought you cant back your statment with facts far from being boring this topic shows why americans are sometimes disliked.

Measuring a military's contribution by the amount of attacks they receive or number of casualties inflicted on them is really quite stupid.

Thanks for the news brief. I never said Austrailia wasnt in the mix. Just not a group I remember seeing too much of, unless I was in Kuwait. Fiji has some people there too.

Lets get one thing straight before this gets out of hand and you start calling me a commie or a Jihadist....Anyone who spends a week in the box is ok by me. The fact that people sack up and put their lives on the line are infinately more respectable than the people who run away from their duty or worse, stand on the side lines and comment on the issues if they have never been there themselves.



[edit on 20-2-2005 by TacOps Security]

Anyone who spends a week in the box is ok by me. The fact that people sack up and put their lives on the line are infinately more respectable than the people who run away from their duty or worse, stand on the side lines and comment on the issues if they have never been there themselves.

With all do respect you havnt said what you were doing in Iraq so I ask again were you a part of the US military effort? I dont want top secret info a simple yes or no answer and a general location for example Bagadad other wise you could be one of the people commenting on issues from the sideline.

Originally posted by xpert11Its interesting that an Aussie will be in command of the naval force.
Just how high level command is this post?

Right in the hotspot, it would seem.



I'm no military expert, but if anything starts up with Iran, command of the northern gulf appear to constitute an integral role in securing over-sea military supply routes to bases in Iraq, supporting overland incursions from Iraq, and possibly launching shoreline incursions. However the population and industry concentration is in the North and West of the country.

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The major concentration of Iranian oilfields, pipelines, and offshore rigs are at the North Eastern tip of the gulf. These would need to be protected from sabotage.

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There is also a major nuclear facility on the coast of the northern part of the gulf near the city of Bushehr, and another at the tip of the gulf near Ahvaz.

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wecomeinpeace thanks for the feedback. I hope Iraqi naval personal get better training then there land counterparts and the numbers arent made up for political reasons. Given events in recent history I dont suppose there is a lot of coperation between Iraqi and Iran sercuity forces.

Originally posted by TacOps Security
If the Aussies were in Iraq, I've never head about it. When was the last news report about an Australian convoy being attacked or one of their bases being mortared? Not to say they are not there, There are troops from Bali in Iraq...Ya...8 of them. That is what the country could spare. You know what they do all day? They go shopping at the base PX and use the phones to call home and say that they are in the war zone.

If countries are going to send troops, they should send fighters. Austrailia has an excellent SAS group. Maybe they are operating in Iraq and that hasn't been published yet.

I am fairly sure that the majority of our ground combat troops are SAS and other special forces, the regular aussie military troops would most likely be in supply and logistics or the Navy. This would explain why we have suffered a lot less casualties or 'accidents' then the US military.

Non-US Countries Supporting Ops in Iraq and theater. Figures as of January 15th.
Source

1 United Kingdom ~12,400
2 South Korea 3,600
3 Italy 3,169
4 Poland 2,500
5 Ukraine 1,589
6 Netherlands 1,345
7 Romania 730
8 Japan ~750
9 Denmark 496
10 Bulgaria ~485
11 El Salvador 380
12 Australia ~920

Internet reports seem to indicate that the majority of Australian forces are involved in security detachment operations (escorting officials and "persons-at-risk" through hazardous areas).

One would assume that SAS operations would not be made public.


Aussies here might chuckle at the words on the side of the armored vehicle in this pic. "CAUTION. LEFT HAND DRIVE"



You can imagine a soldier hopping in and saying, "Well where's the bloody steeering wheel?!"

Considering that the Australian embassy is located outside the green zone, I believe that a significant concentration of ADF personnel patrol that and other key Australian sites as well as provide security to ministers etc. Also air field defense.

You will also find that they took up positions in air traffic control and mine detection and defusing operations at ports. Initially I think there were 2000 personnel in Iraq. SAS were first to go in, afaik, conducting operations before the first strikes. They left along with the commandos and a large number of regular personnel over time, leaving some 400 ADF there now.

I'm only going by memory from what I've seen and read in the news.

[Edit after seeing wecomeinpeace's post] Actually some SAS operations in Iraq have been made public, well after the fact, in regards to awards given.

Medal for gallantry

Trooper X’s patrol was tasked with clearing an Iraqi installation, to prevent it being used for the command and control of Iraqi theatre ballistic missiles. Trooper X was the machine gunner in the exposed .50 Calibre mounting ring in his patrol vehicle. During the action, an enemy special operations force of two vehicles and up to 20 heavily armed personnel engaged the SAS patrol. Whilst in contact with numerically superior enemy forces, Trooper X’s actions in destroying the enemy vehicles gave the Australian force the freedom of movement to complete the mission.

In a hazardous situation and under fire, Trooper X immediately engaged and destroyed the first enemy vehicle with his Javelin missile system. Having limited the enemy’s ability to manoeuvre, the patrol assaulted forward and Trooper X engaged a further Iraqi position located to the south with his machine gun. Trooper X re-engaged the enemy with his machine gun, demonstrating great composure.

Trooper X then re-engaged and destroyed the second enemy vehicle with the Javelin, dispersing nearby enemy soldiers who were setting up a mortar position. Subsequently, as the patrol closed on the enemy position, Trooper X engaged a mortar tube with his sniper rifle, hitting the tube with his first round and causing the weapon to explode. At this stage individual enemy started to surrender, creating a situation where surrendering soldiers were intermingled with other enemy who were still engaging the SAS patrol. Trooper X then judiciously placed well aimed shots within close proximity of the enemy that were still engaging from concealed positions, forcing them to surrender.

[edit on 20-2-2005 by cargo]

Originally posted by TacOps Security
If the Aussies were in Iraq, I've never head about it. When was the last news report about an Australian convoy being attacked or one of their bases being mortared? Not to say they are not there, There are troops from Bali in Iraq...Ya...8 of them. That is what the country could spare. You know what they do all day? They go shopping at the base PX and use the phones to call home and say that they are in the war zone.

If countries are going to send troops, they should send fighters. Austrailia has an excellent SAS group. Maybe they are operating in Iraq and that hasn't been published yet.

you arent reading the right papers then. Australia has had SAS troops in iraq since the beginning.

Yep,SAS had been in Iraq from the start of the invasion guys.

SAS soldiers awarded medals for serving in Iraq
Source:
www.minister.defence.gov.au...

Originally posted by mulberryblueshimmer

Originally posted by TacOps Security
If the Aussies were in Iraq, I've never head about it. When was the last news report about an Australian convoy being attacked or one of their bases being mortared? Not to say they are not there, There are troops from Bali in Iraq...Ya...8 of them. That is what the country could spare. You know what they do all day? They go shopping at the base PX and use the phones to call home and say that they are in the war zone.

If countries are going to send troops, they should send fighters. Austrailia has an excellent SAS group. Maybe they are operating in Iraq and that hasn't been published yet.

you arent reading the right papers then. Australia has had SAS troops in iraq since the beginning.

Wasn't the SAS in Iraq even before war was declared? I remember there being an argument about whether we were breaking international law by having our special forces there before a declaration of war or something... One of the highlights from that artile in the link above, the Iraqi's at this installation probably didn't know we where there either at least not until it was too late

The methodical manner in which 1 Special Air Service Squadron decisively and comprehensively sought out vital installations and key enemy nodes ultimately led to the capture of Al Asad Air Base. Using bold manoeuvre, this enormous facility – which contained more than 50 operational MIG aircraft – was captured by the Squadron. In less than 36 hours, 55 men had secured and cleared the largest and arguably most prized military facility in western Iraq within 22 days of commencement of hostilities.

While our contribution was insignificant in size when compared to the US or UK we did have the next largest commitment of all the other countries involved in the initial invasion, followed by Poland. Which is another country many don't know helped in the invasion, even Bush forgot to mention them when he thanked the UK and Australia in his "victory" speech.

en.wikipedia.org...

[edit on 20-2-2005 by Trent]

Speaking As A Proud American

I am very much aware of Australia's assistance in Iraq, and its track record as an ally of the United States.

In both endeavors, Australia is exemplary. We would be fortunate to have more allies of such caliber -- and thankfully, we do, but not nearly enough.

As an American, I am very fond of my Australian allies (although I'd like them even if they weren't allies -- Aussies are cool), and don't take kindly to people badmouthing my friends.

If you want to do so, you'll be answering to more than just angry Aussies.

Post wisely.