US sick of asking Australia for troops

[Swagman]

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

US sick of asking Australia for troops
Dan Oakes and Rafael Epstein
November 19, 2010

THE United States has repeatedly asked for more Australian troops to be sent to war-torn Afghanistan and for Australia to take control of the coalition forces in Oruzgan province, but has been rebuffed on both counts.

The revelation comes after repeated denials by the Australian government and Defence Force hierarchy that NATO commanders had asked Australia to boost its contingent of 1550 troops.

The Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, and the Defence Minister, Stephen Smith, are attending a NATO conference in Lisbon this weekend, at which the leaders of coalition countries will begin to set a timetable for transition next year - the process of turning small regions over to Afghan forces.

The Herald has been told US General Stanley McChrystal, who was sacked this year after publicly criticising the President, Barack Obama, made at least three written requests in 2008 and last year after it became clear Dutch forces would withdraw from Oruzgan, which they did in August


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/us-sick-of-asking-australia-for-troops-20101118-17zei.html

[msongs]

1. stupid US wants everyone else to die for its crappy endless wars nt

[Le Taz Hot]

2. Good!

Maybe they'll stop asking for support for an immoral/illegal occupation.

[Bigmack]

3. Australia sick of US asking for troops... nt

[snagglepuss]

9. lol nt

[happygoluckytoyou]

4. and exactly WHAT use is a boomerang going to be?

[DirkGently]

5. Americans Sick of U.S. Asking U.S. for More Troops for Pointless Boondoggle.

[trud]

6. I guess the Australian government is smarter/less corrupt than the U.S. government n/t

[RaleighNCDUer]

12. Well, Murdoch left Australia for a reason. nt

[grahamhgreen]

7. Fair suck of the sav, mate!

[TheWatcher]

8. The World is sick and tired of our useless, unecessary Wars.

[frylock]

10. get a clue already

[bluedigger]

11. I meant to unrec this for a stupid editorializing of the title, but I screwed up and recced it, lol.

Oh well. I also find it interesting that Australian foreign policy is now being determined by the Ministry of Defense, or whatever they call it.
"Senior Defence Force officers have often refused to pass on to government recommendations on troop movements, and requests for increases, because they know the requests will be rejected, sources said."

[thunder rising]

13. I meant to rec it, and look, I did!! Imagine how sick Australia is of being asked.

[denem]

14. NO requests made after "surge"McChrystal was fired.

QED

[JohnyCanuck]

15. Canada also sick of the US asking for more troops, and....

for sure the French are too.

The war in Afghanistan is a trap for all parties involved and France will discuss how to draw down its troop presence at a NATO summit this week, the newly-appointed defence minister said on Wednesday.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2010/11/17/16179611.html

[Blue_Tires]

16. remember when the term "Coalition of the Willing" was in style?

seems like 50 years ago...

[struggle4progress]

17. "Curious George Goes to Iraq" kinda messed everything up

[jonnyblitz]

18. Obama isn't any better on this issue. nt

[struggle4progress]

19. Actually, Obama is considerably better on such issues