Aussies 'accept' Afghan casualties

The Australian ^ | 14th July 2008 | David Nason

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AUSTRALIANS have a "quite robust" tolerance for battlefield casualties in Afghanistan, Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said yesterday as the body of our latest casualty was flown out of the war zone for home.

Mr Fitzgibbon said Australians understood the national interest was under direct threat in Afghanistan, and accepted the risks facing the Diggers.

"Australians have a long history of involvement in conflict and know the risks involved and understand the risks involved," he said.

But Mr Fitzgibbon, who is in the US for meetings with defence suppliers, senior officials of the Bush administration and members of Congress, said he did not spend any time dwelling on the possibility of Australia incurring "mass casualties" at the hands of the Taliban.

"I spend all my time working to ensure they don't occur," the minister said.

Mr Fitzgibbon's comments follow last week's death of SAS signaller Sean McCarthy, the sixth Australian soldier to die in Afghanistan. A farewell ceremony was held for the 25-year-old at Australia's Tarin Kowt military base in the country's southeast. His body is expected to be returned to Australia by tomorrow afternoon.

Australian troops based in southeastern Afghanistan are reportedly facing increased dangers because battlefield success against the Taliban is not being accompanied by support from the local population.

The reports said Afghanistan's Oruzgan province, where about 1000 Diggers are deployed, was particularly vulnerable and likely to experience more casualties.

Mr Fitzgibbon told the Nine Network's Sunday program the reports were at odds with the briefings he had received.

"Any suggestion that we are not making good progress in Oruzgan is completely wide of the mark," Mr Fitzgibbon said.

"These people couldn't possibly have access to the information I do about our work there, how we are spreading our influence and dominance throughout the province.