Troops in Afghanistan 'heading for failure'
Photo: Corporal Jamie OsborneJewel Topsfield, CanberraAugust 13, 2007
THE 1000 Australian troops risking their lives in Afghanistan will fail to make the country any more secure or reduce global terrorism, according to an eminent Australian defence expert.
In a withering assessment of the "well-meaning futility" of the Australian Defence Force's role in Afghanistan, Professor Hugh White says "little, if anything, will have been achieved" when our forces withdraw.
It comes as Foreign Minister Alexander Downer conceded the public's patience was "wearing pretty thin" on the war in Iraq and "you will get people electing governments that do just want to walk away from Iraq".
Prime Minister John Howard last week sent a letter to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki pressing for more progress in stabilising the country.
In a journal report to be published this week, Professor White asks why Australian lives were being risked, when there was no possible reason to believe the work of the reconstruction taskforce in the dangerous Oruzgan province in Afghanistan's south-east would make a difference.
"The role of our forces there is to defeat the Taliban by winning hearts and minds through civil engineering," says Professor White, head of the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australian National University.
THE 1000 Australian troops risking their lives in Afghanistan will fail to make the country any more secure or reduce global terrorism, according to an eminent Australian defence expert.
In a withering assessment of the "well-meaning futility" of the Australian Defence Force's role in Afghanistan, Professor Hugh White says "little, if anything, will have been achieved" when our forces withdraw.
It comes as Foreign Minister Alexander Downer conceded the public's patience was "wearing pretty thin" on the war in Iraq and "you will get people electing governments that do just want to walk away from Iraq".
Prime Minister John Howard last week sent a letter to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki pressing for more progress in stabilising the country.
In a journal report to be published this week, Professor White asks why Australian lives were being risked, when there was no possible reason to believe the work of the reconstruction taskforce in the dangerous Oruzgan province in Afghanistan's south-east would make a difference.
"The role of our forces there is to defeat the Taliban by winning hearts and minds through civil engineering," says Professor White, head of the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australian National University.
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 2:24 PM
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