This week Iraqi military forces liberated the city of Fallujah. 90,000 civilians had been held there under ISIS rule. They are now free of that barbaric regime. New Zealand troops helped train the Iraqi forces who have done the job. There are more cities to take back. There are more Iraqi soldiers to train. It is good that our deployment has been extended.

The Prime Minister and his cabinet colleagues who have made the decision to extend are to be applauded. It would have been easier to exit and avoid the cheap shots from their opponents about “u-turns” and the usual media drivel about pressure from the USA. This is none of that. It is about doing the right thing.

It is about the 4,000 Iraqi troops who have been through New Zealand training at Camp Taji and come out ready to fight ISIS. It is about the 90,000 people who will shortly be able to return to their own city in peace, rather than becoming another wave of refugees. It is about recognising that our efforts are worth it and now is not the time to walk away.

Those in the opposition parties who want us to exit and retreat to our little corner of the world need to show some political and moral courage. They should read the Cabinet paper reviewing the deployment which notes how it is working well and how many other countries are currently stepping up their military efforts against ISIS. Perhaps they may yet “get some guts” as the Prime Minister urged them two years ago in Parliament.

That is probably a vain hope. It seems they prefer to criticise the Government for not taking enough refugees rather than join the fight to stop people becoming refugees in the first place.

Ewen McQueen
June 2016