Futile US crusade for democracy

This article was published in The Sydney Morning Herald 5 October 2010

The Liberal Party has said - predictably - that Australia should send more troops to Afghanistan. The party should learn more from past mistakes.

The Australian commitment is already much greater for our size than that of most NATO countries. As each month passes, Afghanistan reminds me more and more of past failures in which we have supported the US militarily.

The first was Vietnam. It was not an obligation under ANZUS. It was specifically stated that ANZUS did not apply. The bare bones of the ANZUS commitment is limited geographically and is also limited to a commitment to consult. It is not a commitment to defend. It is a markedly different treaty to NATO.