War_in_Afghanistan

Good morning, I’m Mark Cann and I’m here on the behalf of Julia Gillard and the Labour party, to respond to the issue that has once again been raised to the attention of the Australian public, about our stance on our involvement in the Afghanistan War, It has been brought to the forefront of our countries attention with the reports of yet another Australian soldier, Jamie Larcombe, killed in the Afghanistan War, sparking the debate about whether Australia should continue to stay involved in the Afghanistan War. But is withdrawing our troops really the correct response' For those of you that are unaware the Afghanistan war began on the 7th of October, 2001, after the Taliban attacked the American city New York, on the 11th of September 2011, taking the lives of many innocent people. This made other countries around the world stand up and become aware of the Taliban’s strict control and ruthless treatment of Afghanistan citizens. The Taliban is a group of Islamic extremist who are ruling violent control over Afghanistan, doing as they please to the citizens of Afghanistan, especially the Hazaras. The US and the British were the first countries to support the Afghan civilians and fight before Australia joining in 2002 due to our strong military alliance to the US. I myself have been affected by this war with losing a good friend in Grant Kirby, who was a digger killed August 2010. I know personally that his wife and certainly majority of other war widows would be absolutely devastated if we were to withdraw our troops now, knowing that there husband died, and the end outcome was that we didn’t achieve anything. Shouldn’t we honour these brave soldiers and finish of the fight we put ourselves into' I know most certainly those that have fought next to them knew them or are family members of them would want to finish the job in which the deceased troops died for. And not dishonour the deceased or the country by pulling out of the Afghanistan war. Now before everyone starts jumping up and down and saying that we need to withdraw our troops, just take a step back and imagine what it would be like if we lived a similar situation to those that are currently living in Afghanistan. They’re currently living in constant fear for either themselves or their loved ones of being tortured, raped and/or assassinated. Surely we’d be calling out for urgent help from neighbouring countries in the world and expect them to help until we can come to peace again' Don’t the Afghani’s deserve the same right as we do' This war has seen many deaths, not just of Australian soldiers but also soldiers from the other countries that make up the Coalition, and innocent Afghanistan citizens who are unable to flee. With continual fighting going between the Taliban and the Coalition (Australia, US and Britian) has seen 2124 coalition troops killed, with 23 being Australian troops. This number of Australians killed by the Taliban is small compared to other countries helping to fight the Taliban such as the US, but their lives are still valuable. This shows the commitment that other countries are showing, such as the US who has lost 1311 troops, and our commitment must match this of other countries. Surely we must continue and show that we are serious about getting world peace' Another important reason why we should continue to be involved in the Afghan war is for our very own protection. We as a country currently have a strong alliance with the US in terms of defence. If we were to pull out and leave our allies in the heat of the battle Afghanistan, this would most certainly tarnish our relationship with the US. This could result in us being vulnerable and open for attack in the future without the support if the US. More importantly the troops that are currently in Afghanistan or are preparing to be deported know what they are getting into and have the want to go and protect Australia in one way or another. It’s not as though we’re still in the days of World War 1 where Australians were forced to go to war through conscription. These troops in Afghanistan wanted to be there and help create world peace and to protect our great country we’re currently in. In the end, all of these points to only one solution and that is to stay involved in Afghanistan and do our nation proud. And I can promise you that the Labour government will make sure that we’ll finish the job in Afghanistan and honour the deceased soldiers the way that they deserve.