Abbott should ask Indonesia and Malaysia for help in Iraq

Tony Abbott is eager - and just as importantly, wants to be seen to be eager - to lend Australia's military muscle to US operations against Islamists in Iraq.

But the humble telephone might make an even more valuable contribution to America's efforts than sending Australian transport planes, or even fighter jets.

Abbott should be on the phone to our neighbours, trying to persuade the Muslim-majority nations of south-east Asia to commit their military forces to Iraq, too.

The leaders of Indonesia and Malaysia have condemned the Islamic State (also known as ISIL) extremists in recent days, and both countries have a big stake in what happens in Iraq and Syria.

Dozens of Indonesian and Malaysian nationals have joined the Islamists, and when these fighters return home, they will pose an acute threat. And the danger won't be confined. Remember, it was Indonesians who had fought in Afghanistan in the 1990s who killed the most Australians after 2001 - in terrorist attacks in Bali and Jakarta.

The group responsible, Jemaah Islamiah, had extended its tentacles throughout the region, especially Malaysia.

So if that is not incentive enough for Abbott to get on the phone, involving Indonesia and Malaysia in Iraq now would also have a big symbolic advantage. It would help rob the extremists of their religious pretensions that Western Christian "crusaders" are the enemy if forces from Indonesia, the world's most populated Muslim-majority nation, are also on side.

Neither Indonesia nor Malaysia carry the same regional baggage as the countries of the Middle East. Granted, the extremists would twist their involvement as mere lackeys of the West, but both nations can argue their own case and their presence would be potent.

There is a precedent. Malaysian heavy armour once helped US troops escape the infamous 1993 "Black Hawk Down" firefight in Somalia.

Abbott also has the opportunity - he calls both Malaysia's Najib Razak and Indonesia's Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono friends.

Abbott has argued for Australia to matter in the world - it should have more, not less, involvement in international security.

But America doesn't want for military force - and what Iraq needs is a diplomatic strategy and plenty of friends.

  ★ SMH