Albanese and RSL criticise Middle East war, question Donald Trump’s objectives

The Prime Minister has called for “more certainty” over Donald Trump’s war on Iran, as the head of the RSL warns the month-long conflict is already showing early signs of “mission creep”.

Four weeks after the US launched its attack, Anthony Albanese has again stressed he has “nothing but contempt” for the Iranian regime but argued the objectives outlined by Washington at the start of the war have now largely been achieved.

“At the beginning of the conflict, the objectives were outlined as, one, stopping Iran getting a nuclear weapon – agree. And clearly (that) has been achieved,” Mr Albanese said.

“Secondly – degrading the opportunity that Iran has for engaging in military action either overt or through its proxies in Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis. Clearly there has been substantial degrading of Iran’s position.

“The third was regime change – and I think that very clearly history tells us that regime change imposed from outside is very difficult,” the Prime Minister said, when asked for his view on how President Trump was prosecuting the war.

“(Regime change) tends to happen from the bottom up within a country, rather than being imposed from outside, because military action against a nation will tend to promote nationalism within that nation.”

“I would like to see the Iranian regime that I regard as abhorrent and reprehensible replaced, and I certainly stand with the Iranian people… So, I think that clearly whether that is going to occur or not is something that I think needs to be outlined,” he added.

Mr Albanese’s strongest criticism of the war to date follows weekend comments from Liberal frontbencher Andrew Hastie who criticised President Trump’s “huge miscalculation” in Iran which he said was damaging the credibility of the United States.

“Iran has been able to pretty much hold the whole world economy to ransom. The economic pain is going to be more acute, and [the Australian public] are going to question the judgement of the president,” Mr Hastie told the ABC on Sunday.

The growing criticism in Australia of Donald Trump’s actions have also been echoed by the new National President of the RSL, Peter Tinley, who is also a former soldier and Labor politician in Western Australia.

“I’ve been to the sandpit several times. I know what the early stages of mission creep look like. And there are three questions I was trained to ask before any commitment of forces that I haven’t heard answered,” the RSL President wrote online. “What’s the mission? Four weeks in, the stated objectives have shifted from regime change to nuclear disarmament to reopening a shipping lane. The US and Israel don’t appear to agree on the endgame. When the people sending you in can’t define success, the people on the ground pay the price.”

“What does success look like? There are no exit criteria. Iran has rejected the US peace plan and hardened its position. Both sides are escalating, not converging,” Mr Tinley warns.

“When do our people come home? The first deployment is always defensive.

“The second is always in support. The third is always because we’re already there.

“We’ve been told Australia’s contribution is ‘not great.’ But how do you commit to a mission that can’t tell you what the plan is?”

“To the families of those deployed: we see you. Your 1,100 RSL sub-branches are here. You don’t need to carry this alone. To the Government: support our people. Define the mission. Answer the questions”.

Earlier this month Australia deployed an E-7A Wedgetail surveillance aircraft and around 85 personnel to the Middle East for an initial four weeks but has not received a specific request from the US to send a warship to the region.

Asked on Monday whether he supported Donald Trump’s war, opposition leader Angus Taylor repeatedly avoided directly answering the question but insisted he wanted to see the Strait of Hormuz opened up.

“We want to see that happen straight away. You know why? Because that will bring down the price of fuel at the bowser. So, we want America to succeed in those endeavours. We want it to happen as quickly as possible,” Mr Taylor said.