Force is a necessary and justifiable measure to manage the threat of Islamic State, a former military commander in the Middle East says.
Retired major-general Jim Molan was chief of operations of the US-led multinational force in Iraq in 2004 and also helped write the government's Operation Sovereign Borders policy.
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"There are certain people in the world that cannot be reasoned with (and) that will hurt us," he told an Australia Israel Chamber of Commerce event on Wednesday.
"(They) must be morally and legally killed in our defence."
Mr Molan's comments come just hours after Defence Minister Kevin Andrews confirmed Australian fighter jets had carried out their first air strikes on Islamic State targets inside Syria.
The minister described the strikes as a "logical extension" of the Australia's strategy in the ongoing fight against IS, or Daesh.
At the Brisbane event, Mr Molan said the fight would be a long-term concern for Australia and the world. He said the West was engaged in a "clash of civilisations" with the caliphate in which total victory was unlikely.
"(It) would be great, but to return the problem to a manageable level might be the best we can do," he remarked.
He also said concerns about young Australians being recruited by the jihadist group were somewhat over-egged. Manliness and victory were both strong selling points of the Islamic State machine, he said.
"The minds of some of our young people will always be vulnerable and we have to be able to manage that," he said.
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