[SOC] The truth about the Aussie SAS

[Bill Cunningham]

> There has been some speculation about why the Australian military
> contribution to the war in Iraq has not received anything like the
> coverage that the American (obviously) and British forces have.
> 
> Well the reasons are twofold: firstly, the size of the force is a
> great deal smaller as it is made up of the elite Australian Special
> Air Service (which is operating in conjunction with their British SAS
> and American Delta Force & SEAL counterparts)... and secondly the fact
> they are special forces means operational security is paramount. The
> Aussies are famous in Special Forces circles for their ability to
> survive without re-supply for long periods of time, something very
> useful when operating behind enemy lines. Just how they do this is a
> closely guarded secret.
> 
> However there is another more... puzzling... aspect to the lack of
> news, considering the Australians are the only group to invite the
> Al-Jazeera TV channel to embed journalists with them. A recently
> broadcast signal from a Australian SAS unit 'somewhere in Iraq' made
> mention that they had run out of embedded journalists and could they
> send a couple more out, preferably less stringy ones this time. It is
> unclear what the significance of that last remark was.