Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon expects Australian troops will be in Afghanistan until after 2012, despite the military setting the date as a target to hand over responsibility of its province.
The commander of Australian forces in the Middle East, Major-General Michael Hindmarsh, revealed at the weekend that Operations Plan 2012 set a target for Afghan forces to look after security on their own.
Chief of Joint Operations Lieutenant-General Mark Evans said it was a tactical planning document to set benchmarks for the conduct of operations in Afghanistan, not a timeline for withdrawing troops, which was a matter for government.
Mr Fitzgibbon said Australia was in Afghanistan for the long haul. ''Although having said that, we've also said that it's not an open cheque book''.
He said he would love to think Afghan forces could provide their own security by then, but expected Australian troops would be there after 2012.
''At the end of the day, it's hard to say how long we will be in Afghanistan, it will be driven by how well we're resourced and coordinate our political, civil and military efforts,'' he said.
It was a normal practice for a commander to set benchmarks as security forces advanced in Afghanistan.
Australia has 1090 soldiers in Afghanistan, mainly in the southern province of Oruzgan. Most are based in Tarin Kowt, including 440 soldiers in a Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force, who are training Afghan soldiers and rebuilding the province. There is also a 330-strong Special Operations Task Group made up of commandos and special air service soldiers who are targeting Taliban leaders.
Australia Defence Association executive director Neil James said people were seemingly hypnotised by the 2012 date and the plan was aimed at a result, not a time.
''Wars are inherently dynamic and the situation changes continually,'' he said.
''Consequently all campaign plans are contingency ones. The 2012 target is therefore just that a target. It is an aim ... not a rigid timetable and any slippage in that date should not necessarily be taken as a sign of failure.
''The end point of the plan is a specified result handover of responsibility for security in Oruzgan province to the [Afghan National Army] and [Afghan National Police] not a specific withdrawal date.''
Mr James also warned Australia should be prepared to increase its presence in Oruzgan after the Dutch's expected pull-out in 2010.
Eight Australian soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan, including commando Private Greg Sher, who was farewelled at a Melbourne funeral on Sunday.
Mr Fitzgibbon said the recent death of the Taliban insurgent commander believed to have organised the rocket attack that killed Private Sher was a significant win for coalition forces. Mullah Abdul Rasheed was a ''very senior insurgent commander'' who had been ''well known to us ... for a long, long time''. ''When you take out a senior leader like Rasheed, you have a significant impact on the chain of command and their capacity to organise,'' he said. with AAP
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