The SMH points out that parliament should pass a law requiring that it debates any proposal to commit Australian troops.
The SMH argues that Australia is ill-prepared for a request seeking our involvement in an ill-conceived foreign conflict in that we have yet to come to terms with our involvement in the last major US-led war, that in Iraqi from 2003.
The paper explains the issue with going into details by contrasting the UKs position with that of Australia: Britain grappled with these issues by establishing an independent inquiry chaired by Sir John Chilcot. It ran for seven years, and reported in 2016 with a damning set of conclusions.
It argues that the decision to go to war should not be left to the prime minister because a wrong decision can be made when he/she is tempted by political opportunism or blindsided by personal relationships with other leaders.
The UK has moved to a system in which Parliament must be involved in any decision to go to war. In contrast, Australia has never held an inquiry into the decision to go to war. The Australian pointedly says we have failed to learn from that conflict and this leaves Australia vulnerable to making poor decisions when faced with pressure from the US to join an overseas conflict.
It argues that parliament should pass a law requiring that it debates any proposal to commit Australian troops in order to effectively prevent Australia from taking part in another inadvisable foreign conflict.
George Williams is Dean of Law at the University of New South Wales.
