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| Down Under |
| Australian troops unlikely in Mideast crisis |
| 2006-07-15 |
| IT is unlikely Australian troops will become directly involved in the escalating Middle East conflict, defence analysts say. But Australia's close ties with the United States, Israel's strongest ally, means intelligence is almost certainly being channelled through the Pine Gap listening facility near Alice Springs. Israel has launched a cross-border operation into Lebanon, including airstrikes that have killed scores of civilians, after militant group Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers last week. Dr Michael McKinley, of the Australian National University's (ANU) department of political science and international relations, said he did not believe the US would become directly involved either. But any escalation involving Iran could change the situation, and Australia did have specialised tanks that could be used in the Middle East, he said. |
| Posted by:Oztralian |