Australia is the latest U.S. ally to join the bombing campaigns against Islamic State militants inside Syria, but the incoherence of the strategy is underscored by Washington’s continuing refusal to negotiate seriously with the Syrian government about a realistic political settlement of the war, writes Greg Maybury.
By Greg Maybury
As expected, Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced a decision by the government to participate in airstrikes on ISIS strongholds inside Syria. But what was less expected was the decision – taken at the same Cabinet meeting and announced at the same press conference – to accept an additional 12,000 Syrian refugees, along with spending $A44 million supplying 240,000 refugees with “cash, food, water and blankets” in Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan.
The cost to Australia of accepting these additional refugees – almost doubling the projected intake for the year – has been estimated at around $A700m over the next four years.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
​​To be sure the decision to take in the extra refugees and provide additional humanitarian support was welcomed by most Australians – even many of those who hitherto might have been anti-immigration or opposed to such largesse on purely economic grounds – and it has bi-partisan support. The decision however to join the bombing fray may not be as enthusiastically received.
In response to Abbott’s declaration – made presumably to justify the decision and offset anticipated criticism – that the legal basis for the air strikes is “the collective self-defense of Iraq,” Independent MP Andrew Wilkie said dropping bombs on Syria would be “illegal, ineffective and dangerous”. Regardless, Wilkie ​almost certainly will be echoing what is likely to be the reaction of a significant number of Australians once the reality of the decision takes root in the public consciousness – especially in the wake of the decision to accept the increased refugee intake.
Wilkie added the following: “These air strikes just won’t work. You can’t defeat an unconventional enemy like Islamic State by dropping bombs.”
Even before Abbot’s…