Australia’s upping the ante in Iraq is a recipe for disaster. It is hard to see anything positive coming out of it.

Mr. Abbott said the request came from the Iraqi Government and the USA. As in the past, the request from the USA was almost certainly what it is all about plus the domestic need to show how hairy his chest is.

Did the Americans have to lean on Iraq to invite us this time as well?

As Vietnam showed, the trainers will end up as combat troops and if the Americans ask for more we will give it.We have all been training Iraqi troops for years to no avail.  How will Australians improve morale and loyalty among the Iraqi army troops?

 This is Vietnam all over again. We are intervening in a civil war which has nothing to do with us. Iraq is a mishmash of competing factions only one of which is the Iraqi Government.When it fails we will be tarred yet again with the same brush as the US.

 This escalation will not make Australia safer as the Government claims but, on the contrary, will increase the likelihood of terrorism in Australia. How will it decrease the attraction for young Australians of joining ISIS.?

 Where will the money come from in a tight budget? What will be sacrificed to pay for this exercise?

The Opposition’s support of this foolishness can only be described as depressing.

Cavan Hogue is a former Australian Ambassador to USSR and Russia.