The Wire

150 Australian, Special Air Service (SAS) troops are set to begin a one year deployment in Afghanistan, as the country braces itself for upcoming national elections in September. When announcing the move Prime Minister John Howard, said that the deployment would be for a fixed term so as to provide some certainty to Australians. However, the Government’s handling of Australia’s engagement in the Afghanistan conflict has drawn sharp criticism from the Opposition. Shadow foreign minister Kevin Rudd has claimed that the government needs to be more consistent in its approach to the region, and has suggested that Australian troops should not have left Afghanistan in the first place. He gave an address to the Australian Institute for International Affairs and last week and continued his criticism of what he labeled as the governments “hap-hazard” policy approach to Afghanistan.