Abbott sought military advice go-it-alone invasion of Iraq - Politics Forum.org | PoFo

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Tony Abbott sought military advice on go-it-alone invasion of Iraq

The Australian

TONY Abbott suggested a unilateral invasion of Iraq, with 3500 Australian ground troops to confront the Islamic State terrorist group.

Flanked by his chief of staff, Peta Credlin, in a meeting in ­Canberra on November 25, the Prime Minister said the move would help halt the surge of ­Islamic State in northern Iraq.

After receiving no resistance from Ms Credlin or his other staff in the room, Mr Abbott then raised the idea with Australia’s leading military planners. The military officials were stunned, telling Mr Abbott that sending 3500 Australian soldiers without any US or NATO cover would be disastrous for the ­Australians.

They argued that even the US was not prepared to put ground troops into Iraq and it would make Australia the only Western country with troops on the ground.

Asked this week about the suggestion by the Prime Minister of sending Australian ground troops to Iraq, a spokesman for Mr ­Abbott said: “The Prime Minister has consistently said that the Australian government will continue to talk to the government of Iraq and to our ­coalition partners about what Australia can usefully do to make the world a safer place and to make Australia a safer country.”

The suggestion by Mr Abbott has been uncovered during an ­investigation by The Weekend Australian into how the Abbott government is working and why it has been hit with problems on several flanks.

One minister said the partyroom would not permit the management style of Mr Abbott’s office, under Ms Credlin, to continue. He said: “If the management style continues this way, Tony ­Abbott will not take us to the next election — Malcolm Turnbull will.”

That minister had publicly supported Mr Abbott in the lead-up to the motion for a leadership spill.

The proposal to invade Iraq raises the issue of Mr Abbott’s judgment — it was made two months before his decision to award a knighthood to Prince ­Philip. The knighthood triggered a motion for a leadership spill against Mr Abbott.


Yes, he really did! Secretly too! Sheesh
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Tony Abbott sounds like a man that wanted to actually do something, rather than talk about what should or should not be done until it was too late to do anything.
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One Degree wrote:Tony Abbott sounds like a man that wanted to actually do something, rather than talk about what should or should not be done until it was too late to do anything.


It would have counted as a war of aggression without the Iraqi government's permission
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The suggestion by Mr Abbott has been uncovered during an ­investigation by The Weekend Australian into how the Abbott government is working and why it has been hit with problems on several flanks.


The Australian is owned by News Corps Australia that has been maintaining a great deal of influence in Australia with nearly three-quarters of daily metropolitan newspaper circulation. So it's plausible that Murdoch's family-owned newspaper engaged in creative writing without a shred of evidence of what Abbot actually said. Murdoch has been imposing his personal views on the general public and urging the Abbot government to send Australian troops to Iraq to confront ISIS may be on his agenda. I suspect that Australia's anti-immigration culture was also shaped by News Corps Australia.

Abbott is said to have taken to the idea to military officials, who told him it would be disastrous for the troops. It would have made Australia the only nation with troops on the ground in Iraq. “I read an article in the paper this morning and I must say I thought it was absolutely fanciful,” Abbott said on Saturday. “I rang the chief of the defence force to ask him about it and he’s as mystified by it as I am. The story is false. It is false, it is fanciful ... The idea there was a meeting in late November where I formally asked for advice and formally suggested that a large Australian force should go unilaterally to Iraq is wrong, just wrong. Australia does not act unilaterally in the Middle East. We work with our partners and allies to meet threats to our vital national interests and to the vital national interests of our friends and partners.”
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-ne ... aq-reports
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I don't know why exactly the thought of Australia invading the Middle East by itself is funny but it is funny. Hopefully Abbot was taken out of context or the news was lying about what he said because if it's true, he's stupid beyond comment.
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redcarpet wrote:It would have counted as a war of aggression without the Iraqi government's permission


The really apalling part about it is the Iraqi government itself clearly doesn't want us to be there at all. They deliberately humiliated us by dragging their feet on the soldier's visas and refused to allow any of our aircraft to enter Iraq. Even after they arrived they have been forced to sit on their hands inside a compound far from any of the fighting.

ThirdTerm wrote:So it's plausible that Murdoch's family-owned newspaper engaged in creative writing without a shred of evidence of what Abbot actually said.


Oh there is evidence don't worry about that. The journalist is an award winning investigative journalist who has absolutely no reason to lie. You can be pretty confident he wouldn't toss away his well earned credibility without being sure of his story. And the Abbott defence is painfully see-through - he frames it as "there was no *FORMAL* meeting" - well duh - nice strawman Tony, the report never said anything about a formal meeting, and the journalist has pointed this out. Notice that when questioned about "informal" discussions, Abbott deflects. He's been sprung, and its clear as a nose on your face.

As for why the Oz published it, the most popular theory going around is that Abbott ignored Murdoch's "advise" to dump his COS Peta Credlin. Thus its not surprising that this expose also features more mud on Credlin.

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