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Australian force steams off to Gulf
By Marianne Bray
SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- Family members and protesters turned out to watch an Australian navy transport ship head off to the Middle East in preparation for a possible conflict with Iraq, amid a rising tide of anti-war sentiment. As many as 200 demonstrators shouted anti-war chants as Prime Minister John Howard and Defence Minister Robert Hill stood by to watch HMAS Kanimbla and its 350 sailors set out from Sydney Harbour on Thursday, to join thousands of U.S. and British military personnel already in the Persian Gulf. The sendoff came a day after the government took the nation by surprise, announcing it would dispatch the first of its troops within 24 hours. Australia also said on Wednesday it would send a special forces task group and air force reconnaissance team to the Middle East, in what was to be known as "Operation Bastille," on a date yet to be set. Ordered by Hill for "potential forward deployment" were chemical warfare teams, a commando regiment, troop-carrying helicopters, transport aircraft and navy divers. Under the plans, a force of 2,000 could be sent to the Gulf -- a deployment much larger than expected. Kanimbla will be carrying a Sea King helicopter, Army landing craft, a defense regiment unit and an explosives disposal team, local media report. The vessel will join Australian ships HMAS Anzac and Darwin -- a frigate and guided missile frigate respectively -- already in the Persian Gulf as part of a U.N.-sanctioned force. The air force reconnaissance unit will go in advance of the possible deployment of 14 F/A-18 Hornets over the next few weeks. Against war
As anti-war sentiment rises around the world, peace activists in Australia said Thursday's deployment came despite promises of a national parliamentary debate on the issue. "They [Australians] feel like they have been double-crossed," said John Hallam, a peace activist and committee member of the Walk Against War Coalition. "He's [Howard] is thumbing his nose at democracy." Over the last week a series of polls have indicated most Australians are opposed to a war against Iraq without U.N. endorsement. An ACNeilson poll published in the Sydney Morning Herald showed just six percent of Australians supported being involved in a war against Iraq without U.N. approval. Almost two thirds thought Australia should be involved if the war was backed by the United Nations, while around a third said they would not support a war under any circumstances. Opposition lawmakers have also been strident in their opposition, saying troops should not be sent without U.N. backing for war. But the country's defense minister defended Australia's stance on Thursday, saying the ship's deployment will help keep up global pressure on Iraqi president Saddam Hussein to work with U.N. weapons inspectors and to disarm. While Robert Hill said the government has not decided to commit its troops to fight Iraq, the ship was being sent with enough time to "prepare for operations should military action against Iraq become necessary. " Howard's conservative government is one of U.S. President George W. Bush's staunchest allies, and Australia was one of the first countries to offer military support to the United States following the September 11 attacks. Australia also has a 51-year-old defense treaty with the United States pledging mutual support if either nation is attacked. Canberra has not yet ruled out supporting a war in Iraq without U.N. backing.
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