Australia joins the invasion of Iraq
On 18 March 2003, after a phone call from President George W Bush, Prime Minister John Howard said Cabinet had authorised the Chief of the Defence Force, General Peter Cosgrove, to commit forces already in the Gulf to a US-led coalition operation. Howard said: "The government strongly believes that the decision it has taken is right, it is legal, it is directed towards the protection of the Australian national interest and I ask the Australian community to support it." The Sydney Morning Herald reported that a Newspoll at the time found only 25 per cent support for a war without UN backing.
The Department of Veterans' Affairs records that Australia joined the US-led "coalition of the willing" on 20 March 2003. Australians served under Operation Falconer, the offensive phase, from 18 March to 15 July 2003. The force included an Army Special Operations Task Group (SAS, commandos and incident response troops), RAN ships in the Persian Gulf, and RAAF aircraft. On 21 March, the SMH reported Howard's confirmation that F/A-18 Hornets, four naval vessels and the SAS had begun operations.
In Australia, the SMH reported that "Tens of thousands" of people marched in Melbourne on 14 February 2003. Rallies were planned in Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide that weekend. Opposition Leader Simon Crean said Australia was involved in an unnecessary war: "And we are going to become a target as a consequence of it." DVA records that five Australians lost their lives as a result of service in the Iraq War, and that some 17,000 Australians have been issued the Iraq Medal.
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