'Troops Overstretched, Says Minister', The Age, 3 June 2008
EXCERPT: "AUSTRALIA'S frontline troops are badly overstretched, with half of the army's infantry and light armoured cavalry committed to Iraq, Afghanistan and East Timor, Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon has warned. The 550-strong Overwatch Battle Group in southern Iraq ceased operations yesterday in line with the promise made by Labor when in opposition. Mr Fitzgibbon stressed that there were practical reasons for bringing the troops home. 'This is not some sort of populist move by the Government,' he said. 'We have enormous concurrency issues. Our troops are overstretched with commitments in East Timor, Afghanistan and Iraq, roughly half of our infantry and cavalry is somehow tied to those deployments. This is an unsustainable position.'"
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See also:
'No boost to Afghanistan troops', The News, 3 June 2008
Related posts:
'Australian infantry frustrated with non-combat roles', 27 May 2008
'Making it count: Australia's involvement in Afghanistan', 15 May 2008
'Australia: Pressure NATO countries on Afghan deployments', 30 April 2008
