Tans-Pacific trade deal a hard sell for PM Turnbull

Turnbull was given an official welcome in Baghdad after flying into Iraq on Saturday which began with discussions with the prime minister of Iraq, Haider al-Abadi.

The Australian prime minister also called for “creative pragmatism” and a “recognition that hard compromises will be required” in finding a settlement to the Syrian war, including “institutional power sharing” or even the possibility of a partition of the country.

Colonel Steve Warren, US military spokesman for the Kuwait-based Combined Joint Task Force, said the Prime Minister was correct in saying there was a lot more room for other nations to increase their contribution.

Australia is already providing 300 trainers, special forces in the advisory role plus the air task group which attacks Daesh targets in Iraq and Syria.

Turnbull said on January 18 that his country will add 20 troops to its security mission in Afghanistan, bringing its total presence to 270.

“We’re encouraging other countries, particularly other European countries, NATO countries, to step up and make a greater contribution, too”, Turnbull told Australian soldiers at Camp Taji, north of Baghdad, in comments released by his office on Sunday.

Mr Turnbull will draw on his whirlwind weekend trip to Afghanistan and Iraq when he meets with US Defense Secretary Ash Carter and security chiefs to discuss the threat of Islamic extremism and progress of military operations.

Australia has about 780 defence personnel in the region, involved in the aerial bombing campaign and training Iraqi soldiers, but Abbott said more “boots on the ground” were needed to defeat Islamic State.

Turnbull, speaking at the Australian Embassy in Kabul, defended the decision despite rejecting a request last week from U.S. President Barack Obama to commit more Australian forces to the fight against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria. “But they must be the right boots on the right ground”.

The US-led coalition’s efforts appear to be paying off with ISIL-held territory shrinking by about 40 per cent from its maximum expansion in Iraq in 2015.