Australia was not being threatened, a parlimentary debate should have been held in respect of any involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The naivity and lack of understanding of some of you posters of strategic decision processes is exactly why it is imeperative that the decision is left to the ELECTED PM and cabinet of the day.
To have a general public referendum or to leave it to the machinations of lets say a socialist mob if idiots like the Australian Labor Party is not in the best interest of the majority of Australians who expect and demand that the government take steps preemptively or otherwise to ensure this aspect.
The wishy washy soft bellied cry babies that are always against war are the first to scream when the dung hits the fan and then they are very loud in accusing everybody for having failed them.
The liberation of Iraq is a STRATEGIC and necessary action and will prove in the long run to have stymied the advance of islamofascism. The next mob of dark age madmen that will get theirs will be Iran.

Australia has a duty to fulfill its role and any person who thinks that the UN is an organization that has any credibility is really way out of the loop of understanding the modern paradigm.

The US is the only major reason why we enjoy a free western world and you better be thankful for that.
The bad guys don't listen to words just bombs and bullets.
That is the way it really is! Like it or not!

'The liberation of Iraq is a STRATEGIC and necessary action and will prove in the long run to have stymied the advance of islamofascism.'-Kasperle.

Stymied the advance of islamofacism? Under which rock have you been hiding mate? It has been the greatest boost to fundamentalist Islam. The vileness it has unleashed between various fundamentalist groups is beyond belief. Potential terrorists are now getting 'real' practice, out in the open. Not playing around in some god forsaken corner in Afghanistan.

Reading the stupid cackling of some posters makes me think we should review who should be allowed to vote for members of our parliament in the first place. No wonder we get so many idiots.

Parliamentary approval, a decision by all elected parliamentarians, is of course what is needed.

Committing to war and sending young men and women to some place to put their lives on the line has to be for very, very good reasons. But then again, some of you could make excellent cannon fodder for the glories of a LEADER.

Are some of you sure you are living in the 21st century?

I think this article provides a good reason why we need a bill of government which would restrict the power of government to certain functions. I think we should adopt a two step approach as well. If the the parliament decide to go to war then participation in the war is voluntary, if the government wants to enforce conscription it should be made to go to an election on the war and only if passed could it then proceed to conscription

Thank you Yvonne for proving my point. Just too ill informed for making any serious decisions!
I would just like to remind you that the Islamofascists have been active for a very long time and it took a serious attack ie 911 to finally wake up the west to this.
PS Don't you dare use the term "MATE" to me - that is reserved for people who have attained mutual respect and friendship, niether of which your verbal diarrhoea allows you to pretend.

Wars of aggression are war crimes, Kasperle. Your comment if true is the precise reason why destroying these international standards is extremely dangerous for future world stability and security, and why there needs to be wider consultation, even with the community.

It should be obvious that killing hundreds of thousands of civilians for "strategic reasons" and inflicting the horrors of war and destruction of all their property is indeed a criminal enterprise. That really is sick and if the people in our government did that then they are war criminals.

So you admit the lies and propaganda about wars are real and merely to placate the public?