'Get some guts and join the right side' - John Key lashes out as he sends NZ troops to Iraq for Isis fight
Quote:
Prime Minister John Key has launched an angry counter-attack over Labour leader Andrew Little's opposition to the deployment of troops to Iraq, saying Mr Little needs to "get some guts" and questioning whether he would make the right decisions for New Zealand.
Mr Key said Mr Little knew the numbers of New Zealanders considered possible risks as extremists had increased from 30-40 last year to 60-70 now. There was also a greater risk to travelling New Zealanders.
"But he says he'd do nothing. I don't believe him. If it's really true then you'd have to question whether he'd make the right decisions for New Zealand."
He believed Mr Little's objections were simply politicking and if it was in Government, it would have deployed the troops as the former Labour Government had sent engineers to Iraq and the SAS in a combat role to Afghanistan.
Mr Key said no country could simply sit by as the atrocities of Islamic State continued.
"Get some guts!" he told Mr Little in Parliament. He said the reason Mr Little was opposing it was "because he wants politics to win over what's right for the people".
Mr Key said the opposition parties in the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia had all supported military missions to combat Isil, yet Labour was unable to do the same.
The blistering attack came after Mr Key announced he was sending a non-combat training mission with Australia to Taji Camp, north of Baghdad in Iraq, to help train Iraqi troops fighting Isis.
Up to 143 New Zealand personnel will be sent, although the deployment will not be a badged mission. It will be reviewed after nine months and last no more than two years.
Making the announcement to Parliament this afternoon, Mr Key said of the Islamic State or Isis fighters who have taken over parts of Iraq and Syria and conducted barbaric killings: "This brutal group and its distressing methods deserve the strongest condemnation."
Mr Key said the ability of Isis to motivate Islamic radicals threatened the security not just of the Middle East, but regionally and locally.
"New Zealand is a country that stands up for its values. We stand up for what's right.
"We have an obligation to support stability and the rule of law internationally.
"We do not shy away from taking our share of the burden when the international rules-based system is threatened.
"We have carved out our own independent foreign policy over decades and we take pride in it."
Mr Key said force protection would be deployed in Iraq to support New Zealand's trainers.
