Australian leader Scott Morrison visits troops in Iraq
Posted Dec 19, 2018 08:56:13 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
SYDNEY, Australia — Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has made a pre-Christmas visit to hundreds of troops in Iraq, telling them he wanted to say thank you from “one Australian to another.”
But Morrison cancelled a planned visit to Afghanistan on the advice of the defence force chief due to operational security reasons.
Morrison travelled to Iraq on Wednesday to meet special forces soldiers and other Australian military personnel who are training the Iraqi Army to combat the Islamic State group.
It was the conservative prime minister’s first visit to the Middle East since he took the top job in August.
He told the troops that he understood it was a sacrifice to be away from their families at this time of year.
The Associated Press
