Farewell to Arms

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As Australian forces ended their mission in southern Iraq this week and began heading home, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd praised the troops but said the decision to send them had been a mistake. The government of his predecessor, John Howard, had joined the war against Saddam Hussein's regime "without a full and proper assessment ... of its consequences." At Tallil air base, Lieutenant Colonel Chris Websdane's praise for his soldiers was unqualified: "You should be proud of your achievements. I am."

Australians have not been engaged in fighting in Iraq since Saddam's armies were defeated in 2003; they've performed their mission with few injuries and no fatalities. The 550 ground troops now leaving the country have spent the past five years overseeing security in the relatively calm Al-Muthanna and Dhi Qar provinces. They've protected reconstruction workers, trained Iraqi police and soldiers, gathered intelligence, fostered amity among local leaders, and promoted democracy and the rule of law. "They trained the local security forces and restored confidence," said the Australia Defence Association's Neil James. "That they were not needed much is more a sign of success than a sign of failure." But public opinion, at first evenly divided on the Iraq mission, turned steadily against it. Now only 300 Australian troops — mostly military bureaucrats and guards — will stay in the country. Another 17,000 soldiers from 26 nations remain alongside the 168,000-strong U.S. force.

As the Diggers packed their kitbags, their countrymen were battling Iraq on the soccer field: on June 1 the Socceroos eked out a 1-0 win in qualifying skirmishes for the 2010 World Cup. In Geelong, ships were loading the first grain shipments for Iraq since 2006, and Australian farmers were hopeful that the country would be restored as one of their biggest wheat markets.

Lieut.-Col. Websdane was also optimistic for a return to normality: "I told my sheikh friends who've invited me back for a holiday that in five years' time I'll be back, wearing a suit or carrying a backpack." Only if that day comes will the Australians truly be able to consider their mission accomplished.