Australia to ‘disrupt’ Islamic State militants’ capabilities says Abbott The Australian | September 08, 2014 AUSTRALIAN strike aircraft and military advisers could be deployed to “disrupt” and “degrade” the Islamic State jihadists’ capabilities, Tony Abbott says, as Barack Obama prepares to outline the coalition forces’ strategy in the Middle East. Australia has joined the US President’s growing coalition of nations willing to support military action against the Islamic State forces, who have proclaimed a caliphate across occupied lands in northwest Iraq and eastern Syria. Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger has urged Mr Obama to “launch an all-out attack” on the Islamic State terrorist group, warning that Americans have become “bystanders” in the Middle East. Mr Obama will address his citizens on Thursday (AEST) to outline the coalition’s strategy, characterising it as an extension of his longstanding campaign of air strikes on jihadist targets in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. “I just want the American people to understand the nature of the threat and how we’re going to deal with it and to have confidence that we’ll be able to deal with it,” Mr Obama told US network NBC. Philip Hammond, the British foreign secretary, on Saturday issued the first details of the “comprehensive” plans to defeat Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, that are being mapped out with Britain’s “international allies and regional partners”. He said: “This will involve a mix of humanitarian, military and diplomatic efforts with different nations making contributions including: training and advising the Iraqi security forces; arming, training and advising the Kurds; technical and political support to an inclusive Iraqi government, reinforcement of neighbouring countries against ISIL and continuing surgical strikes on ISIL. “While we have said there will be no British combat boots on the ground, we have ruled nothing else out at this stage.” Mr Abbott framed discussion of military intervention in terms of domestic security, noting there were at least 60 Australians “that we know about” who are fighting with terrorist groups in Iraq and Syria. “The fundamental purpose (is) to ensure that people who have been radicalised and brutalised through contact with this death cult are not a menace to the Australian community,” Mr Abbott said. “And obviously, as part of that, we are working with our friends and partners, including Middle Eastern countries such as Iraq itself, to see what we can usefully contribute to operations, to protect people from ISIL, to disrupt and ultimately degrade what ISIL can do.” He added: “We are continuing to talk to our partners and allies about how Australia might be able to contribute, whether we should help with some air capability, whether we should help with some military advisers. “We’re obviously talking to our partners about what might be done but I stress, no specific request has yet been made and no decision has as yet been made by the government.” In an exclusive interview with London’s The Sunday Times, Dr Kissinger said air strikes should be of “limited duration as a punitive measure” and “not make any distinction between Syria and Iraq”. He said: “There can’t be any debate any more about fighting them. ” Kissinger, an influential force in US foreign policy for more than four decades, accused Obama of failing to appreciate that other countries yearned for American guidance in the Middle East and other crisis areas. “We don’t have the power to impose our preference, but without us, and without some leadership from us, the new order cannot be created,” he said. “That I think has not understood.” He said Obama “has not understood all the currents that need to be dealt with” in the world. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop yesterday canvassed Beijing’s support for combating the jihadists as the UN Security Council issued a statement stressing that Islamic State “must be defeated and that the intolerance, violence and hatred it espouses must be stamped out”.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 08:16:14 +0000