Iraq Clears Aussie Troops for ISIS Ground War

PM Ruled Out Any Foreign Troops in Iraq Only Last Week

Less than a week ago, Iraqi Prime Minister Hayder Abadi insisted that no foreign ground troops would be welcome in his nation, and that he was confident the Iraqi military could defeat ISIS with Western air support alone.

Today, Australian officials confirmed they’ve been given approval by the Abadi government for the deployment of their special forces ground troops into Iraq to fight against ISIS.

Australian officials familiar with the situation say that the approximately 200 troops will be “bolstering local forces on the ground,” and that part of their mission will be spotting for US airstrikes.

The terms of the agreement with Iraq were not made public, but officials say that the troops were given needed legal cover in case they end up killing Iraqi civilians in the course of the conflict.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.