Andrew Robb (Goldstein, Liberal Party, Chairman of the Coalition Policy Development Committee) Share this | Hansard source

On 7 October 2001, President Bush ordered strikes against al-Qaeda terrorist training camps and military installations of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. This followed the barbaric and cold-blooded terrorist attacks on New York’s World Trade Centre, the Pentagon and four commercial airliners. Over 5,000 people from around 80 countries were brutally murdered, including 22 Australians. The attacks were not simply an assault on America; they were attacks on all people in the world who have a commitment to freedom and liberty and all those who hold immutable the right to individual freedom, democracy, human rights, religious tolerance and the free flow of global trade and commerce. Australia joined the US-led international coalition against terrorism after invoking the mutual defence clauses of the ANZUS treaty on 14 September 2001. This was the first time the treaty’s clauses on acting to meet a common danger had been invoked since it was enacted in 1952.

Australia’s commitment became part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, ISAF, with its operations and activities in Afghanistan, after ISAF was established via a unanimous resolution of the UN Security Council. Today, nine years later, a force of 120,000 troops from 47 countries remains part of the NATO-led operations in Afghanistan. Australian combat deaths have reached 21 with 152 wounded in action. The ultimate sacrifice of these young men, the grief of their families and friends and the continuing commitment of our 1,550 troops still in Afghanistan warrant not only our lasting support and gratitude but also a clear explanation by this parliament of our future involvement and our strategy.

The immediate goal of the NATO-led operations in Afghanistan was to seek out and destroy al-Qaeda and to ensure that Afghanistan can never again serve as a base from which terrorists can operate. In 2001, John Howard spelt out that, while the destruction of the al-Qaeda network was our first priority, the long-term aim of this war was to demonstrate that organised, international, state sanctioned terrorism will not be tolerated by the world community. The question before us today is to assess the extent to which our efforts in Afghanistan to date have helped to achieve these objectives and the merit and nature of any continued involvement.

Twelve months after joining the security mission in Afghanistan, Australia withdrew its combat force after the defeat of much of the Taliban, al-Qaeda and the factional warlords. The focus then shifted to Iraq. Yet within three years we again deployed special forces to Afghanistan because of the re-emergence of the threat due to the regrouping of insurgent forces. In the meantime, a new face of Islamic terrorism emerged via home-grown terrorists, with bombings in London. This highlighted the global impact of the training role of terrorists in Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan. As well, Australia suffered a huge number of civilian casualties in two bombings, three years apart, in Bali. The world observed terrorist cells emerge in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen and al-Qaeda was very active in Iraq.

The fact is that Islamic terrorists have continued their attempts at spreading global fear and terror. In the eight years before 9/11 there were six significant attacks by the terrorist group al-Qaeda. In the nine years since 9/11 there have been more than 48 significant al-Qaeda attacks, with over half of them in the last four years. These figures of growing al-Qaeda activity in many ways mask the success at the same time of concerted international action on the intelligence, law enforcement and financial fronts. Over the past nine years it is evident that the terrorist bombings have increasingly occurred in Muslim countries, albeit often with Westerners as their intended target. No doubt many plans have been made to continue to spread terror in Europe, North America and other Western countries including Australia, but many hundreds of terrorist plots have been foiled. Clearly the responsibility and actions of free countries to first and foremost protect their citizens and interests at home and abroad have been remarkably and increasingly effective, yet radical Islam remains the greatest threat facing the world. Not only do non-Muslims face the problem but moderate Muslims need to accept that it is also their problem.

Australia is a nation blessed with peace, yet in a world of random and wanton terror there can be no peace unless we deal with the threat. This threat of terrorism includes the increasing danger of terrorists getting possession of nuclear, radiological, chemical and biological weapons. We know that al-Qaeda and its affiliates are eager to obtain these types of destructive weapons. If these aims were to be achieved, the potential to cause enormous damage and loss of life in our cities would be overwhelming. This threat underlines the vital need for the civilised world to maintain maximum pressure on terrorist organisations wherever they may be operating around the globe.

This growing threat makes it extremely important for the effort in Afghanistan to succeed and makes it just as important to see related efforts in Pakistan succeed. Failure or premature withdrawal from Afghanistan would be very badly interpreted by these countries inhabited by terrorist cells, such as Pakistan, and would be celebrated by Islamic terrorists themselves. It would see countries lose confidence in the resolve of the developed world. In turn, these countries would themselves lose resolve. It would encourage efforts by local authorities to seek accommodations with terrorists rather than to continue resistance. Attempts to appease evil elements never succeed. It would also greatly emboldened terrorist elements.

The current objectives of the UN led forces are: to stabilise Afghanistan by military and economic means, to train the Afghan National Army and security forces to the point where they can provide the nation’s security, and to prevent the terrorists regaining any hold over the government in Kabul and at local levels. These objectives must be followed through. Real progress is being made. In January 2009 Afghan security forces numbered 156; today there are more than 230,000 Afghan security force members. Schools have been reopened for the first time in years. Enrolment has increased from fewer than one million when the Taliban fell to more than six million today, with more than two million of these being females. Some 85 per cent of the population can now access some type of healthcare facility within one hour. In 2001 there were less than one million people in the Kabul region; now there are more than five million. More than five million Afghan refugees have returned home. Today 70 per cent of Afghans believe that their children will live in a peaceful and secure Afghanistan despite more than 30 years of continuous war. That is remarkable.

While patience was always central to success in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the UN led forces should nevertheless aim to achieve these outcomes as quickly as possible. This underscores the importance of providing sufficient firepower and other resources. If our government is to rely as much as they do on our military leaders advice on the appropriate levels of resources required to achieve each strategic objective then these military advisers must be held more accountable for the achievement or nonachievement of these outcomes. Consideration should be given to a forum for our military leaders and parliamentarians similar to the congressional hearings of US generals in the United States. This would not only bring greater accountability to our military leaders but also, and perhaps more importantly, better inform parliamentarians—who must take greater and ultimate responsibility for decisions on the level of deployment.

Rather than setting a particular withdrawal date for the UN led forces, the achievement of these outcomes should determine the exit strategy. Otherwise the insurgents may simply decide to sit out the prescribed exit date. In saying as much, there must be a clear recognition that achieving a stabilised situation in Afghanistan which denies terrorists a safe haven there requires the Pakistani government to be willing and able to stabilise its own border with Afghanistan. At the moment this border region is a development zone for jihadi terrorists. History cannot be allowed to repeat itself. After the US assisted both Afghanistan and Pakistan to remove the Soviet Union in the 1980s it then left Pakistan to deal with a politically unstable Afghanistan, and an obliging Taliban willing to help Pakistan end the conflict. This Taliban and Kabul connection also provided Pakistan with a counterweight to India. An effective ongoing partnership with Pakistan is inextricably linked to success in Afghanistan. Pakistan must not be left to pick up the pieces. Australia should be prepared to help the US and other countries support Pakistan in dealing with its huge challenges, not only militarily but also with debilitating regional issues like the recent devastating floods, which will create local social and political problems for many years to come.

Pakistan must know that the West is strongly committed to Pakistan’s security and prosperity. Unfortunately many Pakistanis view the West as a threat and not as a partner. Changing this perception is a major and critical challenge in the overall campaign in Afghanistan. In due course the timing and nature of the departure of UN led forces from Afghanistan is critical. In particular it must be done in a way which maintains the military credibility of the US. In the decade ahead the security resources of the UN countries, and particularly the United States, must be progressively freed up to deal with the more global positioning of terrorist cells and other non-terror-related strategic challenges. It is particularly in Australia’s interest to see the US presence and standing in the Asia-Pacific undiminished in the coming decades as China presents increasing challenges, especially for the west Pacific region, as its military capability continues to increase very rapidly.

In conclusion, our mission in Afghanistan is now clearly defined. It is to help reconstruct and build the economic fabric of Afghanistan. It is also to train the Afghan National Army to take over security of their population and, with the Afghan national security forces, fight the battles needed to secure the population centres. Our mission is just, our mission is critical and our mission involves a transition strategy which is working. The date of our exit should be determined by the achievement of the above outcomes and not dictated by a nominated point in time. All that remains is that we maintain the courage of our convictions and the commitment of necessary resources in a timely fashion. Global terrorism will remain a fact of life for a very long time into the future. It will require ongoing management, resolve and vigilance.

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