Latest deaths demand answers about our Afghan involvement

This article was published in The Sydney Morning Herald 7 June 2011

With the death of a fourth Australian soldier in two weeks, there is a growing urgency for Australia's leaders to provide a clear rationale and evidence for our involvement in Afghanistan.

Maybe it was the manner of Lance Corporal Andrew Jones's death last week — gunned down by one of his Afghan counterparts, maybe it was the recent death of Osama bin Laden, or perhaps the slowly dawning knowledge that the US is losing its stomach for the war, but there is a sense that the public will increasingly demand answers.

Yesterday's ramp ceremony at Tullamarine Airport for Lieutenant Marcus Case and Lance Corporal Andrew Jones killed in Afghanistan.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper stood in Kandahar last week and congratulated troops on ensuring that Afghanistan is no longer a base for terrorism.