THE federal government should take up the call from Greens leader Senator Christine Milne for a full parliamentary debate on our renewed involvement in Iraq.
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Senator Milne says she's concerned this could lead to "mission creep" and troops on the ground.
Her call comes after Prime Minister Tony Abbott agreed to a US request for RAAF aircraft to drop arms and ammunitions for Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq as they battle Islamic State militants. It comes on top of our humanitarian air drops for besieged civilians.
There's no talk of troops or even fighter jets being involved, but the government would be wise to use a debate to set out its humanitarian aims and other measures, such as the anti-terrorism laws aimed at Australians who choose to fight with terrorist groups in the Middle East.
Not since the Korean war has a conflict involving our military been free of controversy. Even the decade-long Afghanistan conflict, though low on casualties compared to Vietnam, attracted scepticism from a war weary public.
The world has reacted angrily to the murderous tactics of Islamic State, especially when the terrorist organisation includes British and Australian citizens.
There's a tonne of compassion for the innocent civilians facing a massacre from these villains, but at the same time Australians would be uneasy with the thought of committing large scale troop numbers again.
Mr Abbott and his government lately seems to fare better when dealing with foreign policy issues, so perhaps a full blown debate over our involvement with Iraq and Syria would be a welcome respite from the hum drum of post budget blues.
Australia took part in the famous Berlin airlift after World War Two, when Russia tried unsuccessfully to isolate and starve Berliners from Western aid. The current crisis in Iraq is another worthy cause.
The Coalition will probably grab Mrs Milne's invitation with both hands.