Each political party complains about how the other parties waste billions of taxpayer dollars. Yet I’ve not seen or heard any party leader discuss the nearly $2billion annual spend for war in Afghanistan, “security” in Iraq, and physical and mental healthcare for those wounded, addicted, and traumatised by our military escapades.
Without using weasel words like “stay the course” and “complete the mission,” the party leaders and local candidates must tell us their policy for Australia’s end-game in Afghanistan.
What objective, measurable conditions have they defined for concluding Australia’s military involvement in Afghanistan?
If our mission is to “train the Afghan national army”, how many Afghani soldiers need to be trained, in what roles, to what level of competency and independence? What retention?
If our mission is to “bring security and stability back to Afghanistan”, how many incidents of what type and what trends comprise the benchmarks for “secure/stable enough”?
Our Government must establish these milestones and publish progress against them; we must hold our Government accountable to them.
If the candidates are so inept and incapable of articulating clear exit criteria, how can we trust them with our vote? Or with our precious children?
Judy Bamberger, CLA member
O’Connor ACT