Fighting against ISIS.

[Ausfree]

A 23 year old man Ashley Dyball recently returned to Australia after fighting against ISIS. What do other Forum members think off this??? Is he a hero for assisting the Kurds in their struggle against ISIS.??? Or, is he wrong and he should have joined the Australian army and be properly trained and organised to fight against enemies of this country including ISIS.

I tend to think he is a bit "gung ho" and should have joined the army..........but that is my opinion.:)

Input...anybody????????

http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/dec/07/ashley-dyball-australian-fought-against-isis-syria-released-after-return

[Chops]

Being young and probably somewhat impatient, he, and others like him, probably don't want to wait for training and deployment.
I'm not sure what training they get in the forces to deal with what they see, but going over and seeing beheadings etc would certainly put a big strain on the brain. I hope he can deal with the mental anguish that I'm sure will come.

[Gerokent]

I thought any mercenary activity would have been illegal.

[Pickles2]

I don't know anyrthing about this guy, or his reasons, or how much thought he gave, about fighting against Isal before he left.
The word "Hero" comes to mind, & I am not against using it for him,.....however, anyone that risks their life to go over there & fight against evil & cruelty, gets my very great thanks, and appreciation.
Pickles.

[ramblingboy42]

Australian law prohibits its citizens from taking up arms in any foreign country.

He has clearly broken our laws and knows he has.

I'm not treading any moral ground here , it's like being caught speeding , you did it, suck it up.

Having been an infantry soldier I personally think he was foolish .

He could have chosen to enlist in Australia's Armed Forces and actually choose to fight in an anti terrorist role.

So the guy was definitely on the wanted list , hence being arrested in Germany , let's see what he is going to be charged with.

[mikehzz]

My honest opinion, and it applies to both sides, is that there are people in the world who want to shoot and kill other people, and they are on the lookout for anything that makes it a legitimate activity. That is, they won't get charged with murder because someone in authority says it's ok. Do NOT misconstrue this to mean people in our regular armed forces who I have the utmost respect for. This guy has taken the easy route with questionable psychological motives and/or consequences. War is hard enough on well trained and psychologically prepared individuals. This guy could be a PTSD time bomb and that's why the law should stay as it is.

[Pinelli]

I think in terms of Syria & Iraq at the moment, there are a lot of different groups running around with guns (and tanks from what I've seen in an earlier post), and it's hard to classify some of these groups as simply the enemy or friendlies. It's even hard to pin down whether Russia is on our 'side' or not in this conflict. Any Aussie that heads over there and joins any old group is not really doing anything positive for Australia, and could easily cause harm to themselves, civilians or Australia's reputation.

[bob10]

Fighting for some one else's cause is not new. Usually, how ever, their ranks are made up of experienced military members, who can not settle down to mundane peacetime routine. It is estimated 1400 soldiers from all over the World fought with the Rhodesian armed forces, during their war. No one prosecuted them. Mike Hoare's mercenaries in the Congo are another example. Most regular soldiers I know regard these soldiers of fortune as ill disciplined rabble.

Which brings us to this young bloke. I fail to see what value an untrained, inexperienced boy from Brisbane would have to an organisation fighting a mob like ISIS. It would be interesting to find out what he actually did. There have been reports he was defusing I.E.D's, good luck with that. I think he would be propaganda value only, sort of a shop window for ex military thinking about joining the fight. He is certainly not a hero, foolish young man, yes. What to do to discourage other foolish young men going over? It will be interesting to see what pans out.

A little on the Rhodesian mercenaries, may give an idea of the mindset of men who fight other people's wars'

The VVA Veteran, a publication of Vietnam Veterans of America (http://vvaveteran.org/32-2/32-2_rhodesia.html)

[Ausfree]

"Private security" is still happening in the world's trouble spots. These people, seem to be ex military with experience in these situations. Not some untrained youth who wants what he thinks is an "adventure".

https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2014/may/1398866400/james-brown/guns-hire

[ramblingboy42]

I don't know if 'soldier of fortune' magazine still exists , but it did have plenty of attractive advertisements for those interested in becoming "professional" soldiers.

Before I left the army, I had had several offers made to me to train forces overseas , with quite lucrative compensation.

So, it probably hasn't changed now.

[bob10]

Don't know what the pay is, but it's not enough.

Australian commander killed in Yemen – reports | The New Daily (http://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2015/12/09/aus-commander-killed-yemen-reports/)

[spudboy]

He might have been appalled at the litany of sub-human treatments that ISIS were handing out, and decided to do something about it rather than sitting at home and posting something on FaceBook.

He might be a passionate supporter of human rights, and wanted to get hands on.

Whatever - at least he had a crack instead of sitting at home and uselessly gnashing his teeth.

Was it a good idea - probably not. Could easily have got himself killed. So he was lucky to get out unscathed. Maybe he'll get jailed.

But when you're young you do dumb things. I don't see anything "Anti-Australian" in it.

[DiscoMick]

The Kurds seem to be the most effective ground troops fighting ISIS, although the Iranians are probably pretty good, but that is hidden.


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[mekon76]

We simply don't have enough eyes on the situation. Don't know who he was really fighting, how he was fighting. No doubt no rules of engagement, no adherence to any conventions Aust is a signatory to.

Doesn't matter what his intentions are, it's his decision, he went out on his own. He can face the consequences if there are any. He is not a soldier.