Topic: Australia's Howard says country's elite troops risk becoming overworked

Team Infidel

Media: The Associated Press
Byline: n/a
Date: 27 September 2006


CANBERRA, Australia_Australia's prime minister said Wednesday that the
country's elite combat troops risked becoming overworked in trouble spots
around the world, in his latest comments defending his decision to withdraw
commandos from Afghanistan.

Australia is sending 400 more troops to Afghanistan, mostly military
engineers whose mission will be reconstruction projects in the country's
south, doubling the size of its deployment there.

But Canberra is withdrawing a force of some 200 Special Air Service troops
and commandos who have been in Afghanistan for the past year, replacing them
with engineers.

Prime Minister John Howard said many of the elite troops had served in
Afghanistan in the overthrow of the Taliban regime in 2001 and have been
involved in restoring peace in East Timor after the security crisis in the
capital Dili in May.

"There is a danger that we put too heavy a load on our special forces,"
Howard told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio in the southern city of
Melbourne. "They're outstanding men, but we've got to be careful we don't
overload them," he added.

Howard announced last month that Australia will boost its army by 2,600
troops to deal with rising security threats in its region and contribute to
military missions like those in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In Brussels on Monday, Australia Foreign Minister Alexander Downer
criticized European members of NATO for placing restrictions on their troops
in Afghanistan, complaining such "caveats" limit the effectiveness of the
fight against the Taliban.

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