The term "Peace Keeper."
Do you mean a six foot Weapon Platform dressed up as a man clad in protective clothing.
With I might add bullets that explode on impact and with laser guided
weapons in the vehicle behind.
Yes,who ever thought up the term must be laughing in his grave.
Any troops that think that they are doing a service to the Community arriving in such a way,are seriously deluding themselves.
A hero is a person who by his bravery manages to overcome great odds.Similar to an unarmed policeman disarming an offender.
Due to O,H and S. perhaps the future armies will never have in their ranks true heroes.

Interesting article Gary, but I don't see the how you could come to the conclusion that Australia's foreign policy is confused by how the ADF has been deployed since Vietnam, and more importantly, since Cambodia.

There seem to be the two aspects you spoke about. The first being a 'conventional' role with large scale Coalition type actions. For these we seem to commit Naval, Air Strike and Support, and Special Service roles. This role also provides a deterrent to would-be aggressors with the support of our highly trained infantry battalions and now out-of-date Armoured Regiment that can quickly be deployed from barracks or from your second function of Regional/UN Peacekeepers.

The Coalition role, though small is significant. I see it as paying the premium on our insurance policy with the US. In the event of a conventional war with "Mazuria" (the hypothetical enemy island that floats randomly off the coast of Australia), it is almost certain that American assistance will be required.

It should be noted, and it probably was in the hallways of power in "Mazuria", that 3RAR's recent deployment to East Timor was accompanied by an offer of assistance from the United States. This is important for two reasons - the US has publically stated that the insurance premiums are paid in full, and the US would trust its troops to an Australian Command!