AUSTRALIA will enter a historic partnership with NATO at the group’s summit in Wales this week, giving the Australian Defence Force greater access to the planning and decision-making of the world’s most powerful military alliance. US President Barack Obama will officially name Australia an enhanced partner of the organisation, recognising the nation’s contribution to NATO operations, particularly Afghanistan, over the past decade. The Australian can also reveal the Abbott government is considering increasing Australia’s long-term presence in Afghanistan with the potential deployment of 200 special forces troops amid worldwide concern about the collapse of security in Iraq after the withdrawal of the US-led forces. Membership of NATO’s Enhanced Partnership Program will give Australia permanent access to the organisation’s planning at the earliest stages of future operations and ensure an Australian presence in its governing councils. Sweden, Finland, Jordan and Georgia will also become enhanced partners. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Defence Minister David Johnston will attend the NATO summit in the Welsh city of Newport on Thursday and Friday. The key topics will include Russia’s aggression towards Ukraine, the escalating Islamic State crisis across Iraq and Syria, the threat posed by foreign fighters returning from the conflict and the transition in Afghanistan. In parliament yesterday, Tony Abbott foreshadowed closer military intervention in Iraq, again ruling out sending combat troops but leaving open the possibility of air strikes by RAAF jets. Backed by Bill Shorten, the Prime Minister said Australia could not leave the Iraqi people to face the jihadist horror alone. And he rejected the claims of “this hideous movement” to have created a new nation, or caliphate, the so-called Islamic State: “It’s not a state, it’s a death cult.” The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, created in 1949, has 28 members and a range of partnership programs, with some partner nations hopeful of becoming full members, although this is not the case for Australia. NATO’s enhanced partners are militarily significant nations the organisation wants to integrate more fully into its councils and operations. They are nations that have made significant troop commitments to NATO operations in the past. The ADF is believed to be keen to get greater access to NATO planning and decision-making, and maintain full military inter-operability, which the new agreement offers. Throughout the long NATO commitment in Afghanistan, Australia, which often had about 1500 troops in the country at any one time, was generally the largest non-NATO contributor and in fact was a larger contributor than all but a handful of the organisation’s nations. More than 26,000 Australian soldiers have served in Afghanistan. The Australian troops also won an envied reputation as effective soldiers who were willing and able to undertake serious fighting against the Taliban, whereas several European militaries were more inclined to stay within their bases and well away from conflict. The Abbott government has made a commitment to keep an Australian military presence in Afghanistan after the NATO mission finishes at the end of this year. At the moment, Australian combat forces have withdrawn from Afghanistan but about 400 Australian soldiers remain in a training capacity. Until recently, the government was inclined to keep the Australian commitment at that level. However, the disastrous development of the Islamic State terror group in Iraq has forced widespread allied rethinking on the best way to handle Afghanistan’s likely security challenges after the US and NATO troop withdrawals. The Abbott government is now inclined to supplement the 400 trainers with an Australian special forces contingent, taking the post-2014 total Australian troop presence up to near 600. No final decision has been made as the US has not finalised its bilateral agreement with the Afghan government for a long-term US presence in Afghanistan. However, it is widely believed that the US will commit to keeping a force of about 10,000 troops in Afghanistan. There will be several thousand NATO forces beyond the Americans. The Australian special forces, mainly the SAS, will be integrated with the American special forces in Afghanistan. The other main Australian special forces contingent, the commandos, have also seen sustained action in Afghanistan and are highly regarded. The Australian special forces will work predominantly in a training and mentoring role with Afghan special forces rather than as frontline troops. However, mentoring can include direct involvement in operations with Afghan forces. This week’s NATO summit is likely to be dominated by the question of NATO’s response to recent Russian aggression in Ukraine. It will also deal with three other critical issues: whether there is a specific NATO contribution to resolving the conflicts in Iraq and Syria; the threat of foreign fighters returning from Iraq and Syria; and how NATO manages the transition in Afghanistan. Australia will want to participate in decisions on all three issues. It is likely final legal agreements involving Australia’s status as an enhanced partner may not be signed at the Wales summit, but a declaration in principle will be made. The enhanced partner status involved detailed and intense negotiations within NATO, and between the organisation and the five nations involved, with other nations considered for this partnership. The government of Poland, though very friendly to Australia, was reluctant to have Australia join as an enhanced partner because it wanted all nations involved to be those that felt directly threatened by Russia. It is believed Washington also pushed Japan’s credentials as an enhanced partner but this was rejected by other NATO members on the grounds that until now, Japan had not contributed to the organisation’s combat missions.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 08:29:47 +0000
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