The Afghanistan War served “little strategic purpose” for Australia and was entered into with an “ill-defined mission”, according to lawyer and veterans’ ambassador Glenn Kolomeitz.
“We went into that war with a very ill-defined mission and even now we still have no defined mission so I’m not convinced that we achieved it’s purpose, having no defined purpose,” he told Sky News.
“Afghanistan serves little strategic purpose for Australia beyond the benefits of being involved in the Five Eyes intelligence relationship and being seen to be a good alliance partner.”
Mr Kolomeitz said it was difficult to say “what if anything we achieved” and Australia should think more about these conflicts before entering them because soldiers “don’t know what we’re there to change”.
“Looking at the big picture now, a protracted conflict with a loss of a number of lives and many sustained injuries now, it’s difficult to see the cost benefit ratio being beneficial, being particularly good for Australia.”
