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16 - A new type of commitment

Humanitarian relief in Kurdistan, May–June 1991

from Part 5 - Watch on Iraq

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 May 2022

David Horner
Affiliation:
Australian National University, Canberra
John Connor
Affiliation:
University of New South Wales, Sydney
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Summary

Australia's commitment of seventy-five military personnel to a humanitarian relief mission in northern Iraq in May and June 1991 – known as Operation Habitat – was noteworthy for several reasons. It was the first Australian ground unit to be deployed to the Gulf and Iraq region since the First World War; but it would not be the last, as Australian units were to go to Kuwait in 1998 and to Iraq in 2003, with commitments extending for years beyond. Australia was also the only non-Nato country to deploy troops to northern Iraq in 1991, and this was yet another forerunner of future deployments; in 2006 Australian troops would become part of a Nato force in Afghanistan. Operation Habitat included the first Australian Army medical subunit to be deployed overseas since the Vietnam War. Again it would not be the last; medical units would go to Rwanda in 1994–95 and to East Timor and other countries in the years that followed. Further, this was the first time that Australian female soldiers deployed overseas with weapons.

Operation Habitat was the largest land-based Australian humanitarian mission to that time – a mission to alleviate human suffering by the provision of medical and engineering support, rather than to observe a ceasefire or to deter the recurrence of fighting. It was the beginning of similar humanitarian missions over succeeding years so, although the Habitat mission was relatively small and of only limited duration, it marked the beginning of a new pattern of Australian military commitments.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Good International Citizen
Australian Peacekeeping in Asia, Africa and Europe 1991–1993
, pp. 395 - 426
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2014

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References

Davis, Douglas, ‘Denial of aid to rebels gives Hussein upper hand’, Australian, 30–31 March 1991, p. 12Google Scholar
Deagle, Tim, ‘Terror stalks road to safety’, Australian, 6–7 April 1991, p. 14Google Scholar
Alderson, Andrew, ‘Hussein's civilian massacre increases pressure on Bush’, Australian, 1 April 1991, pp. 1, 6Google Scholar
Teimourian, Hazhir & Ellicott, Susan, ‘Iraqi refugees boost Turkey exodus to 3000’, Australian, 2 April 1991, p. 5Google Scholar
Theodoulou, Michael & Bone, James, ‘Refugees risk death in flight to Turkey’, Australian, 4 April 1991, p. 7Google Scholar
Connolly, Adam, ‘Furious Kurds stoning outrage’, Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 13 April 1991, p. 4Google Scholar
Brown, Cameron S., ‘Turkey in the Gulf War of 1991and 2003’, Turkish Studies, vol. 8, no 1, March 2007 Google Scholar
Casey, Marcus, ‘A big welcome to Sydney, comrade’, Sydney Morning Herald, 16 May 1991, p. 5Google Scholar

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  • A new type of commitment
  • David Horner, Australian National University, Canberra, John Connor, University of New South Wales, Sydney
  • Book: The Good International Citizen
  • Online publication: 12 May 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139196437.018
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  • A new type of commitment
  • David Horner, Australian National University, Canberra, John Connor, University of New South Wales, Sydney
  • Book: The Good International Citizen
  • Online publication: 12 May 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139196437.018
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • A new type of commitment
  • David Horner, Australian National University, Canberra, John Connor, University of New South Wales, Sydney
  • Book: The Good International Citizen
  • Online publication: 12 May 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139196437.018
Available formats
×