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14 - A serious decision

Committing Australians to war: September–December 1990

from PART 3 - THE FIRST GULF WAR

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

David Horner
Affiliation:
Australian National University, Canberra
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Summary

While the RAN task group conducted interception operations in the Gulf of Oman, throughout October and November the government was preoccupied with a range of issues: securing the release of the hostages; assessing the terrorist threat; considering whether to expand the military commitment; and deciding how to react if the United Nations authorised the use of force to expel Iraq from Kuwait. If the government responded positively to the latter situation, it would be the first commitment of Australian forces to war since the then Prime Minister, Sir Robert Menzies, sent an infantry battalion to South Vietnam in 1965.

The resolution of the issue of committing forces to war underlined the fact that the government had committed forces to the Gulf for purely political and diplomatic reasons. Whether or not Australia deployed forces would make no difference to the eventual outcome, and the government needed to judge the extent of Australia's commitment against this calculus. As with the initial decision to apply sanctions, the dominant figure was the Prime Minister, Bob Hawke, who received strong support from his key ministers, Senators Evans and Ray. They were acutely sensitive to the views of the left-wing members of their party, who generally opposed the commitment, and needed to balance these views against their belief that it was in Australia's interest to support the United States and, more broadly, the United Nations.

Type
Chapter
Information
Australia and the New World Order
From Peacekeeping to Peace Enforcement: 1988–1991
, pp. 375 - 396
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

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  • A serious decision
  • David Horner, Australian National University, Canberra
  • Book: Australia and the New World Order
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511779459.016
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  • A serious decision
  • David Horner, Australian National University, Canberra
  • Book: Australia and the New World Order
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511779459.016
Available formats
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To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • A serious decision
  • David Horner, Australian National University, Canberra
  • Book: Australia and the New World Order
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511779459.016
Available formats
×