As a regular contributor to ABC Unleashed, I was asked to offer a suggestion for this weekend’s 2020 Summit on Australia’s future:
Australian troops are causing more harm than good in Afghanistan. Engaged in an unwinnable war against a so-called enemy that enjoys widespread public support and growing anger at NATO’s indiscriminate bombing of civilians, Kevin Rudd’s recent suggestion of eradicating poppy fields shows how out of touch he is with reality on the ground. The central government, run by a corrupt clique led by Hamid Karzai, controls little of the country and is filled with war-lords who terrorised the nation in decades past.
Australia should withdraw troops as quickly as possible and instead provide humanitarian support and UN backing.