Fed: Community grows out of touch with war, says defence group

AAP General News (Australia)
02-01-2005
Fed: Community grows out of touch with war, says defence group

CANBERRA, Feb 1 AAP - Australians have grown out of touch with the realities of war,
the Australia Defence Association said today.

An Australian airman, Paul Pardoel, who was serving with the British Royal Air Force,
died in the crash of a C-130 Hercules transport aircraft yesterday morning.

The death has sparked a debate over the role of Australian forces in Iraq and their safety.

ADA executive director Neil James said while the defence forces never liked losing
members and the family needed time to grieve, it was not a useful debate to have.

"Obviously the family needs some privacy to grieve properly," Mr James told ABC Radio.

"But the people of Australia need to be reminded that the defence force are out there
working on their behalf in often quite dangerous circumstances.

"And we are, unfortunately, in the sort of era where there aren't that many Australians
with close personal experience of either armed conflict or personal service in the defence
force.

"And there tends to be a little bit of an attitude that it's just done by someone else
and the average Aussie does not have to worry about it, and we think that's a bit sad."

Mr James said Australians needed to acknowledge the potential sacrifice that its servicemen
and women were making on their behalf.

AAP pjo/cjh/sd

KEYWORD: IRAQ PLANE JAMES

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