Aussies Flop In Afghanistan

Australia's leaders have not been straight with the Australian people about the war in Afghanistan. Hence it's absence from the recent election. Airbrushed out by all the parties. Julia Gillard has been embarrassed by her inadequate and out of her depth response to the Wikileaks revelations. She is claiming the war has moved on since the assessments details in these leaked cables. This is true. But why should anyone believe the conflict is moving in the right direction?

The cables say Afghanistan ''scares the hell'' out of Kevin Rudd as he told the Americans in private. To the Australian people he insisted that progress was being made. He praised troops from France and Germany in public, but dismissed their efforts behind closed doors.   No wonder the Australian public was left confused over the long-term plan in the conflict. And remains so.

What emerges from these cables is deep and enduring pessimism about the idea that a foreign force can impose peace in Afghanistan. Nothing has happened to change that assessment since in Australia or anywhere. Rudd sent more Australian troops to Afghanistan in April 2009, despite his misgivings. But if the extra deployment was an effort to win brownie points from the Americans, whatever bonus was short-lived.

By December, the cables say that the US saw Rudd as ''loath to increase troop levels''.