Stormy scenes as Howard announces Australia is at war

By GREG ANSLEY in Canberra

Australia went to war today as a bitterly divided nation alarmed at warnings of a greatly increased threat of terrorist attack.

Prime Minister John Howard confirmed that RAAF FA/18 Hornet jet fighters were escorting air-to-air tanker and early-warning and control aircraft over Iraq, and defence analysts said the SAS was almost certainly already behind enemy lines.

"For operational and security reasons, which I hope the House (of Representatives) and the public will accept and understand, I cannot give specific details," Mr Howard told a hushed Parliament shortly after the first bombs fell on Baghdad.

But he could inform the House and the Australian public that "forces have commenced combat and combat support operations".

In the stormy scenes that followed, Opposition Leader Simon Crean branded the onset of hostilities as a tragic day for Australia.

"This is a reckless, dangerous act and the Prime Minister should hang his head in shame as a result." The Senate, with a majority of Labor, Democrat, Green and Independent senators, voted to bring troops home - a symbolic gesture that will not affect the Government's decision.

In Sydney, thousands of demonstrators choked rush-hour streets for a rally outside the Town Hall and a march on Mr Howard's office, and in Canberra hundreds of protesters gathered outside the heavily-guarded United States Embassy.

Earlier in the day, two 1991 Gulf War veterans, former Navy sailors Magnus Mansie and Brett Jones, handed back their medals at Parliament House in protest at what they said was an illegal war.

In a speech to the National Press Club, Mr Crean produced new legal opinion that the Government's commitment to war was not in accordance with international law.

But Mr Howard replied: "I have no doubt at all about the legal basis of what we're doing and the opinion we have produced remains unshaken."

In Parliament, the confirmation that Australians were in action sparked an uproar, with Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer at one stage shouting to Mr Crean: "You behave like a child in a primary school on a major international issue."

Across Australia, fears grew that war in the Gulf meant an even higher risk of terrorism and Indonesian Islamic extremists warned that Australians were now prime targets in their country.

Canberra had already tightened security at high-risk embassies, and foreign diplomatic posts in Australia, and at 44 defence bases.

In New South Wales, security was increased at transport hubs and key facilities, such as the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor and city waterways.

Queensland Premier Peter Beattie urged a greater terrorist watch at ports in his state after police said parts of the coast were dangerously exposed.

But Attorney-General Daryl Williams said Australia was already on an unprecedented level of alert.

Herald Feature: Iraq