More Depp terrier talk than terror: Leahy

Former army chief Peter Leahy is lamenting the fact there's been more talk of Johnny Depp's dogs this campaign than the war on terrorism.

A former army chief believes we've heard more about Johnny Depp (pic) this campaign than terrorism. (AAP)

A former chief of army believes we've heard more about Johnny Depp's terriers than the war on terror.

Peter Leahy, who oversaw the army from 2002 until his retirement in 2008, laments the lack of debate on the future of Australia's involvement in the Middle East.

Unlike radical militants, Australia and its allies don't have a coherent long-term strategy, he warns.

"In the middle of an Australian election campaign, when you might expect some talk about vision and strategy, we have heard more about Johnny Depp's dogs than we have heard about the shape of victory in the war on terror," he wrote in The Australian on Tuesday.

Also unknown is how long Australian troops will remain in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Just what is the exit strategy," the retired general asks.

"What hope is there of any political acknowledgement that, in the war on terror, we will be fighting multiple wars on multiple fronts for a very long time to come?"

In the meantime, troops were being left on a "set-and-forget strategy".

General Leahy, director of the National Security Institute at the University of Canberra, believes the election campaign is a good time to start talking about what victory in the Middle East looks like.

"We might even do better than that and start talking about the ideas behind the threats we have sent our troops overseas to confront."