Australia heeds Obama's call

It's been that way since the first dark years of the Second World War when Prime Minister John Curtin, shaken by a Japanese air attack on the northern port of Darwin, made a historic plea to America to come to our aid.

"Without any inhibitions of any kind I make it quite clear that Australia looks to America, free of any pangs as to our traditional links or kinship with the United Kingdom,'' he declared in a newspaper article on Dec. 26 1941.

It was almost certainly strategic self interest rather than sentiment which drew America across the Pacific to help in our rescue.

But history will record that soon after Gen. Douglas MacArthur arrived in Australia to a hero's welcome in March of 1942, that American, Australian and other Allied troops halted the Japanese advance.

And so into Korea, Vietnam, the Middle East and Afghanistan. Australian troops have gone often with the strong support of the Australian public.

The Australian troops have sometimes played smaller peripheral roles in the conflicts but have always displayed the sort of loyalty Prime Minister Harold Holt best encapsulated in a speech he made in Washington in 1966, shortly before Lyndon B Johnson became the first serving President to tour Australia.

"All the way with LBJ.''

The recent announcement by President Barack Obama to pour more troops into Afghanistan has been welcomed by Canadians who have shouldered a huge burden in the conflict, particularly in Afghanistan's south.

But Australia is reluctant to deepen its involvement on the front line, limiting its extra input to an increase in Australian Federal Police and extra cash to boost aid.

Australia has approximately 1,500 troops in Afghanistan making it about ninth in ranking among the international forces battling the hardline Islamists who lost power in 2001.

The nation has also lost 11 soldiers in the war which had wide spread support after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but is now a growing concern in the minds of Australian voters.

Australia has about 20 federal police in Afghanistan who are training the national police force and assisting in the war on drugs.

The Federal Police Association chief executive Jim Torr says he is not necessarily opposed to the move to send more police.

But he has questioned the decision, telling the national broadsheet The Australian that police officers were working in high risk environments with little prior training, such as that being undertaken by the Dutch police doing similar work.

Some Australian police had been subject to rocket attacks on the Australian compound and potential fatalities could not be excluded.

"Yes we operate in some dangerous environments but these would appear to me at the moment to be at the top of the danger factor," Torr said.

Australia's newly installed Opposition leader, Tony Abbott, said this week he would not rule out calling for more Australia troops in the field, but wanted more information first.

"I don't think we should rule out an increase in commitment provided that we are confident the strategy is clear and the tactic is likely to work,'' he said.

But while Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has made it clear the nation remains committed to the fight, he is being deeply cautious about our level of involvement.

The memory of Vietnam still resides in the minds of millions of Australian voters who saw 500 young Australians killed in a deeply unpopular war.

"We in Australia are here for the long haul,'' Rudd said recently during a visit to Australian troops.

Leading political commentator and author Paul Kelly, who also writes for The Australian, says while Australia will not cut and run from Afghanistan, it's commitment is being carefully calibrated.

Australia's special forces are recognized as effective and working to train the Afghan army to the point where it can assume security responsibility.

Australia has also made a $200 million US contribution to the Afghan National Army Trust Fund, the largest contribution after the U.S.

Kelly says Rudd cannot tolerate any public difference with the U.S. on its involvement in the conflict and recognizes the need to avoid an abject defeat of American forces.

"Rudd is a pro-U.S. leader sympathetic to Obama's difficulties and aware of the limits to U.S. power,'' Kelly writes.

Kelly says while some U.S. military personnel would like Australia to do more, the Rudd government has not besen embarrassed by its decision to continue with its limited involvement.

The Obama administration, particularly through Defence Secretary Robert Gates, says it appreciates and is satisfied with Australia's role, Kelly says.

"Rudd's commitment in Afghanistan is clever, serious and limited.''

Michael Madigan is the Winnipeg Free Press correspondent in Australia. He is the Gold Coast bureau chief for the Brisbane-based Courier Mail.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 11, 2009 A14