Come clean on troop deployment

FAMILIES of soldiers serving with the special forces task group in Afghanistan have told of their frustration at the lack of information the Government is releasing about their sons' perilous mission, warning that the public is underprepared for likely casualties. Sydney Morning Herald
The concerns, expressed to the Herald by a number of parents, came as the Prime Minister, John Howard, announced the final composition of the 240-strong reconstruction taskforce Australia will send in July to the dangerous southern Afghanistan province of Oruzgan.

Australia has fared extremely well with its deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. With over 4000 troops in foreign hot spots, the accidental death of Jake Kovco, in Iraq, marked the first Australian casualty in Iraq. Four members of Australia's special forces were recently wounded in Afghanistan.
The low casualty rates probably reflect the relatively small deployment of the cream of the country’s offence force. Each new deployment must increase the risks, as does the stepping up of Taliban backed attacks in Southern Afghanistan.
But the Howard government, as they do in most other spheres of their decision making, is cloaking the deployments in secrecy. It is facile to claim security reasons; facile to think that the Taliban and their allies don’t know most of the details of deployments on their patch.
The issue really concerning many of us is the Howard government’s demonstrable incompetence. This was put on display for us with the circus surrounding Kovco’s death. They couldn’t even escort the right body home, for God’s sake!
The secrecy is more about potential domestic crisis management then it is about security. The more they play this secrecy game the greater the crisis they seem to be able to generate for themselves.
Families and the country as a whole, have a right to know where our military personnel are deployed, and why, and what are the potential consequences of our meddling on foreign soil. There is little so far to give confidence to any thoughts of positive long term outcomes.