Public ‘not told’ about role in Iraq
New Zealand’s mission in Iraq has undergone a significant change, without the public being told.
Since last year, soldiers have moved beyond a purely training role, taking up new responsibilities to help Iraqi forces plan and conduct military operations.
The changes should have been made public and cause the public to question what New Zealand is really doing in Iraq, says human rights campaigner Harmeet Sooden. ‘‘I think there needs to be public debate about are we actually helping the people of Iraq?’’ Sooden told Stuff Circuit.
When Task Group Taji – New Zealand’s contribution to the fight against Islamic State (Isis) in Iraq – was announced in 2015, then-prime minister John Key said New Zealand soldiers would train Iraqi Security Forces alongside the Australian Defence Force.
He said the operation would be ‘‘behind the wire’’.
After reading news reports about what the Australians were doing in Iraq, Sooden last year began asking questions about exactly what New Zealand soldiers were doing.
Sooden has maintained an interest in Iraq and its people since being held hostage there for four months in 2005. Fellow captive Tom Fox was killed.
Sooden has now compiled a report based on the answers to his questions of the Government.
Asked if the New Zealand public has been misled, he said: ‘‘Information has been omitted that has created an impression that’s not true.’’ Among his key discoveries are that the Government has expanded the NZ Defence Force’s mandate beyond training to include what is known as ‘‘advise and assist’’.
The Government has not said what that role includes but the Australians describe it as planning and conducting military operations and ‘‘integrating coalition resources’’ into those operations, for example providing drone imagery to the Iraqi Security Forces.
Sooden has also discovered New Zealand soldiers are training at camps beyond Taji.
While the Government had revealed some of this information, it had omitted one specific location: Qayyarah West Airfield, 60km from Mosul.
New Zealand began operating out of the base before May 2017, which was during the time of the buildup to the final push of the Battle of Mosul. The city was recaptured from Isis in July 2017.
A May 2017 briefing to then defence minister Mark Mitchell noted New Zealand’s involvement at Qayyarah West had not been made public.
Mitchell did not directly answer questions put to him by Stuff Circuit about Qayyarah West but said in a statement: ‘‘The NZ Defence Force was given a strict mandate to train Iraqi soldiers for the fight against ISIL, as well as to train stabilisation forces, and to the best of my knowledge they adhered to that mandate.
‘‘There was no change in that mandate beyond what was announced publicly and all troop training was carried out behind the wire as stipulated.’’
Sooden’s research has also revealed New Zealand soldiers are involved in a programme to record the biometric data of Iraqi soldiers. He is concerned about the implications of this, saying the information collected can identify a person’s ethno-sectarian background. ‘‘In a sectarian conflict that’s a very dangerous thing.’’
He said the NZ Government couldn’t guarantee how that information would be used, and ‘‘if it gets into the wrong hands – and these are the words of a US biometrics military specialist – it can become a hit list.’’
The Kiwi mission to Iraq is up for renewal in November this year.
Sooden says that before the Government makes a decision, there should be transparency. ❚
Like the Waiheke Island winery chosen by Peters for his more formal meetings with Bishop on Saturday, hosting the dinner at his own home signals a concerted effort by the foreign minister and deputy prime minster to put some warmth back in trans-Tasman relations.
Winston Peters’ dinner table diplomacy has broken the ice between Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. It may also have helped break the recent ice in trans-Tasman relations.
Peters brokered a private and unheralded meeting between Bishop and Ardern at his exclusive St Mary’s Bay home on Friday.
The meeting was so hush-hush even some members of Ardern’s inner circle were in the dark. And like the Waiheke Island winery chosen by Peters for his more formal meetings with Bishop on Saturday, hosting the dinner at his own home signals a concerted effort by the foreign minister and deputy prime minster to put some warmth back in trans-Tasman relations.
Only the Auckland weather refused to play ball, torrential rain greeting Bishop and Peters as they disembarked at Waiheke Island.
Trans-Tasman ‘‘mateship’’ has taken a few knocks lately – Australian officials bridled over some of Ardern’s statements after she renewed the previous government’s offer to take some of the Manus Island refugees off Australia’s hands. Subsequent selective leaks across the Tasman appear designed to undermine New Zealand’s position.
Further diplomatic differences could emerge if New Zealand goes its separate way from Australia on Iraq. Both countries have troops there and discussions had turned to the next phase of the deployment before the change of government.
Bishop and Peters both deflected questions about New Zealand’s decision when asked on Saturday – Ardern is due in Sydney in March and both suggested there would be no substantive discussions till then.
NZ First, Labour and the Greens all opposed the deployment in Opposition. But, in response to questions about their respective positions, Peters said people needed to keep an open mind.
A review of the Iraq deployment was launched after the election and Peters said Defence Minister Ron Mark was currently on a fact-finding mission offshore, where he will also attend a major international gathering in Kuwait where coalition partners may be asked to do more.
New Zealand has around 110 troops at Camp Taji in Iraq where they have been on a joint mission with Australia to train local military and police. There has been strong public support for the deployment but extending their mission or mandate could be polarising within Labour and the Greens in particular.
Bishop would not say whether Iraq was one of the issues she discussed with Ardern, but confirmed they canvassed a wide range of issues.
There is history between the two women – Bishop was furious with Labour when one of Ardern’s MPs, Chris Hipkins, became embroiled in a citizenship scandal that threatened to derail the Turnbull government.
That explains the sensitivity behind their meeting, though Peters insisted the reason for keeping it quiet beforehand was to do with Ardern’s busy schedule.
He had not known till the last minute if she could make it.
But there also appears to be some calculation behind Bishop and Ardern’s social media posts about the catch up – it defuses the media attention on the atmospherics between Ardern and Bishop when they next meet face to face in Sydney.
Bishop said it was ‘‘absolutely delightful’’ to catch up in such an informal environment and they spoke about a range of things.
‘‘As female politicians we discussed a lot of matters of contemporary interest. We also discussed some very serious issues involving Australia and New Zealand so it was a delightful and in depth conversation.’’
Even shoes made it on to the agenda – and Bishop admitted to a bit of ‘‘shoe envy’’.
Ardern had previously posted on social media about turning up in her New Zealand ‘‘All Birds’’ sneakers, which she worried might look like slippers.