"Behind the wire"

When John Key has spoken of sending kiwi troops to Iraq, he's always said they'd be performing a training role, "behind the wire". The clear implication: behind the front lines and safe. But as today's talk of basing them at Camp Taji shows, that's just bullshit. Because according to the latest maps from the BBC, Camp Taji is in an ISIS supporting area, just a stones-throw from their strongholds around Fallujah:


[Original map stolen from the BBC]

Its so "safe", the US has been bombing people there. And as this weeks attack on Ain al-Asad airbase (used for a similar "training" mission by the US) shows, the front lines can shift at any moment and "safe" areas can become battlegrounds.

Basically, this is not a safe deployment. The lives of those soldiers will be at risk, and Key is lying about it.