Abbott Commits Australian Fighter Jets to Air Strikes in Iraq

By Edward Johnson  

Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Tony Abbott, Australia's Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Australian fighter jets will take part in air strikes in Iraq as part of a U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State forces.
As many as eight Super Hornet strike fighters will join the mission and once legal arrangements are in place with the Iraqi government, special forces soldiers will assist Iraqi troops, Abbott told reporters in Canberra today.
Islamic State “represents a significant threat not only to the people of Iraq but to the wider region and to our domestic security,” said Abbott. “Australia is reluctant to reach out to conflicts thousands of miles away, but this conflict has reached out to us.”
Australia has deployed 400 air force personnel and 200 special forces soldiers to a U.S. base in the United Arab Emirates in preparation for the mission. Authorities raised Australia’s terrorism alert to the highest level in a decade last month citing the threat posed by
supporters of Islamic State, and days later police said they foiled an alleged militant plot to abduct and behead a member of the public in Sydney.
The government says at least 60 Australians are now fighting with terrorist groups in the Middle East and at least 100 Australians are supporting them at home.
A Wedgetail early warning and control aircraft and a KC-30A refueler are already supporting coalition operations over Iraq.