Australia to send troops to Iraq to bolster embassy security

[webfact]

Australia will send troops to Iraq to guard the Australian embassy in Baghdad

AUSTRALIA has sent troops to Iraq to help protect the Australian embassy, given the unfolding conflict in the country.

A spokesman for the Defence Minister David Johnston has confirmed the deployment of a “small ADF liaison element” to Baghdad.

It will “support security arrangements,” he said.

The Minister’s office would make no further comment.

Tony Abbott has described the situation in Iraq as a “witches brew”, which his government is monitoring very carefully.

“While we should be ready to do what good we can, we should be careful about anything that might make a bad situation worse,” he told reporters in Canberra yesterday.

“It’s important to consult, to consider and to plan, rather than to act precipitately in a very difficult situation such is as obviously unfolding in Iraq.”

Full story: http://www.news.com.au/national/australia-will-send-troops-to-iraq-to-guard-the-australian-embassy-in-baghdad/story-fncynjr2-1226961168134


-- News.com.au 2014-06-19

[TVGerry]

Go Austalian SAS!!

[Kooweerup]

Go Austalian SAS!!

1 RAR 2 sections are going over. Just a token gesture to the U.S really. My nephew is going.

[Credo]

Go Austalian SAS!!

1 RAR 2 sections are going over. Just a token gesture to the U.S really. My nephew is going.

Surely you jest? Why would the US care whether or not Australia guards its own Embassy?

[Trentham]

Go Austalian SAS!!

1 RAR 2 sections are going over. Just a token gesture to the U.S really. My nephew is going.

Your pic makes you look good for a Gippslander.

[thumper101]

Basically they will have 3 helicopters in the compound ready to evacuate it when the rebels close in.

There won't be any protecting of the embassy, they would get annihilated with 1000 militants firing on them.

The US will do the same and probably be out of there before the ozzies.

[Bpuumike]

Guarding any of the embassies is futile; better to temporarily evacuate them.

Just an excuse to have 'boots on the ground'.

[Scott]

Embassies are complex places with a lot of functions. Another poster in another thread has mentioned that there are 150 Australians fighting in Iraq (former Asylum seekers). There are probably numerous Australians also working with various companies, NGO's as well as people visiting family members. They will be looking to their embassy for help and assistance up until the last minute.

Nothing like fleeing from fighting and not having your passport. Embassies need to function as long as they can. Non-essential personnel are most likely alredy evacuated.

[coma]

It is just the Embassy Security Detachment "SECDET" redeploying. After the invasion there was first a platoon then it was up sized to a company to conduct VIP escort and compound [ Embassy ] protection/security. Most probably has a couple of LAV'S and some MP's attached to the Infantry contingent. NOT SASR.

Definitely not a token gesture to appease the U.S. It is simply a diplomatic protection mission. Not a war fighting mission. I believe the US just deployed a similar force to protect its missions inside Iraq.

[Halion]

Outstanding that the allied position prior to invasion was to preserve freedom and democracy. Failed yet again as the country is in a bigger turmoil than before we got involved.

[Bpuumike]

Embassies are complex places with a lot of functions. Another poster in another thread has mentioned that there are 150 Australians fighting in Iraq (former Asylum seekers). There are probably numerous Australians also working with various companies, NGO's as well as people visiting family members. They will be looking to their embassy for help and assistance up until the last minute.

Nothing like fleeing from fighting and not having your passport. Embassies need to function as long as they can. Non-essential personnel are most likely alredy evacuated.

Strikes me 'the last minute' for the Baghdad embassies is now.

It's not s problem up North in Erbil. So far ISIS (like the rest of the Iraqis) don't want to mess with the Kurds.

[Scott]

The Kurds are an interesting mix in this whole scenario -- not that everything and everybody else isn't interesting, by the way. The Kurds are predominantly Sunni, but not particularly fundamentalist. They are Kurd first and Muslim second. I wonder if they will swing toward their Sunni brothers or not?

[simple1]

Embassies are complex places with a lot of functions. Another poster in another thread has mentioned that there are 150 Australians fighting in Iraq (former Asylum seekers). There are probably numerous Australians also working with various companies, NGO's as well as people visiting family members. They will be looking to their embassy for help and assistance up until the last minute.

Nothing like fleeing from fighting and not having your passport. Embassies need to function as long as they can. Non-essential personnel are most likely alredy evacuated.

Just as a bit of detail, the statement by a TV member, with strong anti Muslim asylum seeker sentiments, that the estimated 150 Australians fighting with ISIS are all former asylum seekers is a totally unsubstantiated claim. I would go as far as stating it's an inflammatory falsehood. The few who have been on video have strong Australian accents that suggests they were born & raised in Australia.

Out of the thousands assessed by Australian authorities for asylum / refugee status the number refused entry on security grounds is less than ten.

Edited June 21, 2014 by simple1

[kinmaew]

At speakers corner in Hyde Park the comment was "If there is a fight the Australians will join in". I am so ashamed of my country just cow-towing to the US. Billions spent on these pointless wars and we all know that as soon as forces leave things will go back to normal. You cannot force a country to adopt "US Style Democracy". Islam and Democracy is an oxymoron and the US should butt out of other peoples business. Its up to those countries to form their own societies, they need to make the first step on their own volition.

[Scott]

Embassies are complex places with a lot of functions. Another poster in another thread has mentioned that there are 150 Australians fighting in Iraq (former Asylum seekers). There are probably numerous Australians also working with various companies, NGO's as well as people visiting family members. They will be looking to their embassy for help and assistance up until the last minute.

Nothing like fleeing from fighting and not having your passport. Embassies need to function as long as they can. Non-essential personnel are most likely alredy evacuated.

Just as a bit of detail, the statement by a TV member, with strong anti Muslim asylum seeker sentiments, that the estimated 150 Australians fighting with ISIS are all former asylum seekers is a totally unsubstantiated claim. I would go as far as stating it's an inflammatory falsehood. The few who have been on video have strong Australian accents that suggests they were born & raised in Australia.

Out of the thousands assessed by Australian authorities for asylum / refugee status the number refused entry on security grounds is less than ten.

I am not assessing the voracity of his claim or of his numbers, but even as you seem to say, there are Australians there. Whatever the purpose of anyone being on Iraqi soil is not the point of the discussion. If you have citizens in a country, the embassy has a job to fulfill for as long as it is feasible to do so.

I doubt very much that you will see these guys pursuing anyone down the streets of Baghdad.

[Credo]

At speakers corner in Hyde Park the comment was "If there is a fight the Australians will join in". I am so ashamed of my country just cow-towing to the US. Billions spent on these pointless wars and we all know that as soon as forces leave things will go back to normal. You cannot force a country to adopt "US Style Democracy". Islam and Democracy is an oxymoron and the US should butt out of other peoples business. Its up to those countries to form their own societies, they need to make the first step on their own volition.

Your ashamed of your country for protecting it's Embassy? The facility they are protecting is Australian. I don't think the US had to ask the Australians to come and protect their own property.

Of course, if this whole area continues to go pear-shaped, it's in the general direction of Australia where those boats start going. It would be nice if there is an Iraq left standing to send them back to.

[NeverSure]

I think the US is actually sending troops to guard it's embassy too. It sure doesn't need another incident like the Mission in Benghazi.

"The Embassy of the United States of America in Baghdad is the diplomatic mission of United States of America in the Republic of Iraq.

At 4,700,000 sq ft (440,000 m2), it is the largest and most expensive embassy in the world, and is nearly as large as Vatican City." Wiki

[Bpuumike]

The Kurds are an interesting mix in this whole scenario -- not that everything and everybody else isn't interesting, by the way. The Kurds are predominantly Sunni, but not particularly fundamentalist. They are Kurd first and Muslim second. I wonder if they will swing toward their Sunni brothers or not?

A surprising number of Kurds are Christian.

You are quite right, they are Kurds first above all else.

[folium]

The Kurds are an interesting mix in this whole scenario -- not that everything and everybody else isn't interesting, by the way. The Kurds are predominantly Sunni, but not particularly fundamentalist. They are Kurd first and Muslim second. I wonder if they will swing toward their Sunni brothers or not?

"no friends but the mountains"...a popular Kurdish saying which neatly sums up the Kurds status as the world's largest ethnic group without a state of their own, and a group that has been on the receiving end of grief and opportunities denied for centuries.

There are some 30 million Kurds mainly split between Turkey, Iraq, Syrian and Iran, with smaller numbers elsewhere in the region. However, they are not a monolithic group as while most are Sunni, a sizeable minority are Shia, others Sufi, Christian etc. There are also subtle linguistic differences between these various Kurdish groupings.

There are also political divisions. iraq's Kurds have been spilt between two family/linguistic/party groupings the Barzani KDP and the Talabani PUK. They even fought a Kurdish civil war in the 1970's. Both families have profited significantly both financially and own considerable economic resources within the KRG area.

As ever things are not quite as simple as they might seem...typical ME!

Thus they have little interest in swinging behind "their Sunni brothers" as ethnic history far outweighs religious ties, and the possibility now exists for the Kurds to finally get what they were promised in the 1920 Treaty of Lausanne, namely an independent Kurdistan. But this is just another cog in motion in the current maelstrom.

The Australian contingent that has turned up in Baghdad is presumably to cover any planned evacuation as security of the embassy as been outsourced to a private military contractor for the past 3 years.

[shirtless]

Just shut the embassy, Iraq is and will always be a lost cause, unless you are in the oil business,

[neverdie]

Just shut the embassy, Iraq is and will always be a lost cause, unless you are in the oil business,

Ultimately every country on the face of the earth is in the 'oil business', there's no shortage of smoke and mirrors going on ATM and each player Involved is moving the pieces in a predictable manner.

Sadly, this was always going to happen. Even more sadly, they were warned.

I hope no Australian soldiers are killed or injured during this operation.

[Scott]

The Kurds are an interesting mix in this whole scenario -- not that everything and everybody else isn't interesting, by the way. The Kurds are predominantly Sunni, but not particularly fundamentalist. They are Kurd first and Muslim second. I wonder if they will swing toward their Sunni brothers or not?

"no friends but the mountains"...a popular Kurdish saying which neatly sums up the Kurds status as the world's largest ethnic group without a state of their own, and a group that has been on the receiving end of grief and opportunities denied for centuries.

There are some 30 million Kurds mainly split between Turkey, Iraq, Syrian and Iran, with smaller numbers elsewhere in the region. However, they are not a monolithic group as while most are Sunni, a sizeable minority are Shia, others Sufi, Christian etc. There are also subtle linguistic differences between these various Kurdish groupings.

There are also political divisions. iraq's Kurds have been spilt between two family/linguistic/party groupings the Barzani KDP and the Talabani PUK. They even fought a Kurdish civil war in the 1970's. Both families have profited significantly both financially and own considerable economic resources within the KRG area.

As ever things are not quite as simple as they might seem...typical ME!

Thus they have little interest in swinging behind "their Sunni brothers" as ethnic history far outweighs religious ties, and the possibility now exists for the Kurds to finally get what they were promised in the 1920 Treaty of Lausanne, namely an independent Kurdistan. But this is just another cog in motion in the current maelstrom.

The Australian contingent that has turned up in Baghdad is presumably to cover any planned evacuation as security of the embassy as been outsourced to a private military contractor for the past 3 years.

I have met both Barzani and Talabani while working in the region. Because they were fighting at the time, I had to make a courtesy call to each when traveling back and forth. Programs also had to be evenly split to keep the peace -- such as it was.

The linguistic differences were somewhat pronounced. I had two way radios between the offices and over the radio, they had to speak English because it was too hard to understand each other over the radio. Face to face they could communicate quite well, though.

I still have friends, acquaintances and relatives in the area. I will have to try and see what they make of the situation. Turkey and Iran are not going to like any independent Kurdistan.

But, we do digress. I hope this all works out OK and the Australian Embassy weather's the brewing storm without a problem.