Aussie Troops in UAE

Zillah

What on earth are 600 Aussie troops doing deployed in the UAE? Obama has made it very clear that he has no intention of getting into a ground war, no one else has sent troops to Iraq or Syria, they're just doing airstrikes.

My only guess is that Tony Abbott, who has seemed like a bit of a hawk already in his career, jumped the gun and tried to show off without really thinking it through, and now he's sitting there have brought ground forces to an air-war, like a guy that shows up with salad at a BBQ.

Gatling

German's have boots on the ground in Iraq

The 600 Aus troops are mainly aircrew and related back up to aswell as 8-10 F18's aircraft ,
And 200 special forces troops to train Iraqi forces but i reckon there going to be used in search and reconnaissance roles along side Kurdish fighters

tbradman

Zillah wrote: »

What on earth are 600 Aussie troops doing deployed in the UAE? Obama has made it very clear that he has no intention of getting into a ground war, no one else has sent troops to Iraq or Syria, they're just doing airstrikes.

My only guess is that Tony Abbott, who has seemed like a bit of a hawk already in his career, jumped the gun and tried to show off without really thinking it through, and now he's sitting there have brought ground forces to an air-war, like a guy that shows up with salad at a BBQ.

They are mainly special forces troops who have been sent as "advisors" for Iraqi and Kurdish troops. American special forces are already in place in Iraq and will probably be boosted over the coming weeks.

Tony Abbott isn't really "a bit of a hawk", he's way more right-wing than John Howard, but without the mental abilities. He would be closer in politics and reasoning to Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld.