Islamic State: Australian air strike may have caused civilian casualties in Iraq, US report says

PHOTO: Prime Minister Tony Abbott last month confirmed Australia had received a formal request from the US to extend its air strike campaign to cover Syria as well as Iraq.

An Australian air strike against Islamic State (IS) may have caused civilian casualties in Iraq, according to a document obtained by the ABC.

The US Central Command report lists alleged civilian casualties caused by Coalition aircraft in Iraq and Syria between September 2014 and April of this year.

One incident details an Australian raid on a suspected IS weapons factory, that appears to have taken place on December 21 last year.

The report said 10 minutes after the last bomb was dropped, a woman and child were observed within the targeted area.

A man then arrived and took the child away on a motorbike, and the woman was seen walking to a median strip where she lay down.

The document is based on reports by Coalition pilots and/or ground forces and lists dozens of other possible civilian casualty incidents.

The document has the time, location and a rough summary of the incidents but not the results of any investigations that may have taken place as a result of the reports.

As most of the areas under attack are under the control of IS, it is difficult for Coalition to forces to verify the incidents.

In the case of the Australian incident, the report states that there was insufficient evidence to determine whether there were any civilian casualties.

Investigative journalist Chris Woods, who monitors the Coalition war effort in Iraq and Syria closely, said the documents were a rare insight into the Australian fight against IS.

"It gives us a real insight into how Australian aircraft are operating in Iraq and the outcome of the investigations that were triggered by these claims," he said.

Document lists another incident of possible civilian casualties

The Australian military is considered to be cautious when it comes to releasing information about its operations in Iraq.

It provides monthly briefings to journalists at Defence Headquarters, providing information on total flying hours, the number of missions and the amount of ordnance dropped.

The briefings usually describe in general terms what areas were targeted, but they do not usually talk about possible civilian casualties.

"We do think it is going to make a couple of Coalition members, including Australia, a bit uncomfortable," Woods said.

"But that's because of their own issues about secrecy which we have our own issues with."

The document was in a Freedom of Information request by Joseph Trevithick, who runs the blog War is Boring.

It lists another incident of possible civilian casualties where Australian fighter jets were present.

It states that in October 2014, an Australian F/A-18 reported a truck entering a target zone near an Islamic State checkpoint west of Ramadi.

The details are unclear but the truck entered the area sometime between the release of a weapon and its detonation.

It does not state whether the Australian jet fired the missile but the incident was filmed by the F-18's weapons system

Trans-Pacific Partnership Nothing sweet about free trade deal for Australian sugar growers

PHOTO: A dispute over sugar was among the many stumbling blocks of the stalled TPP talks.

It was supposed to be the ultimate free trade deal — a tie-up of 12 countries representing about 40 per cent of global GDP But the American-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) failed at the last hurdle earlier this month, where a dispute over sugar was among the many stumbling blocks, and specifically, America's refusal to open its sugar markets to greater competition and free trade.

In the complex world of free trade talks, true freedom remains an unattainable goal. Freer trade may be the result, but the benefits are often hard to measure or identify.

While it was largely unstated, the TPP was also America's opportunity to exploit regional concerns about China's rise; to create a regional alliance based on a trade agreement.

Trade negotiators often become the conduits for lobby groups looking to extend or protect their vested interests. And few lobby groups are as effective as the American Sugar Alliance.

"Multinational food makers want artificially cheap sugar to boost corporate profits, even if it means jeopardising 142,000 US sugar jobs and America's food security," according to one of the lobby group's slickly produced video presentations.

Among those accused of peddling artificially cheap sugar is Australia and the lobby was quick to jump on those who might suggest otherwise.

"If we were to have much freer trade in sugar, I doubt that there would be much grown in the US," the Sugar Alliance said.

"Too many countries like Brazil and Australia simply can grow it much more cheaply."

The controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership deal covers 40 per cent of the global economy and involves 12 countries around the Pacific rim, including Australia and the United States.

The American Sugar Alliance, which declined an interview request for this story, sees unfair competitors everywhere.

Australia has been accused of receiving direct grower payments, credit subsidies and exporting sugar at prices below the domestic prices — an accusation that rankles Canegrowers Association economist Warren Males.

"The US sugar alliance is drawing a very long bow in making those statements," Mr Males said.

"Australian sugar producers do not receive support from the Government, there are no financial payments that are made."

US growers terrified by TPP

Much of America's sugar comes from sugarbeet, a root plant grown across the Midwest that produces lower-grade product at a higher cost. Not that American producers see it that way.

"US sugar policy prevents a flood of foreign-subsidised sugar from cascading into our market, allowing efficient US producers to provide sugar to our consumers," Luther Markwart of the American Sugarbeet Growers Association said.

Efficiency isn't the word that springs to mind when considering America's tough import quota restrictions and government guarantees which provide domestic growers at least 85 per cent market share and a minimum price.

But that doesn't prevent some astounding claims.

"We get all of our income from the marketplace, not from government cheques or subsidies," Mr Markwart said.

Nevertheless, US growers are terrified by the prospect of a TPP which genuinely delivers freer trade.

"It has the ability to tip some of our businesses, like Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co into the ... It's unprofitable for us to continue to grow sugar," the company's general manager Rick Volner said.

If we were to have much freer trade in sugar, I doubt that there would be much grown in the US. Too many countries like Brazil and Australia simply can grow it much more cheaply.

American Sugar Alliance

American lobbyists constantly claim Australia subsidises sugar, pointing to drought relief — a claim Australian growers reject.

"There are general support programs available to agriculture in the US and in Australia for adverse circumstances, but in the US there are very strong programs for price support," Mr Males said.

That American support doesn't come without substantial political and financial clout.

The sugar lobby is among the biggest political donors in Washington, contributing more than $20 million to congressional candidates on both sides of politics over the past five years.

Presidential candidates from the cane-growing key state of Florida, Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush, whose campaign recently received more than $500,000 of sugar money.

"They spend some millions of dollars each year to protect $3.3 billion worth of benefit above world market prices," Mr Males said.

"For them, it is a sound business investment decision."

But American sugar lobbyists point to inconsistencies in Australia's push for increased American access under the TPP, arguing Australian producers didn't gain any further access in recent agreements with China and Japan.

And they point out Australia isn't campaigning for an end to protectionism under the TPP. It wants a bigger share of a protected market to gain higher prices.

According to Mr Males, there is no reason Australia should not be able to meet some of that growing import need.

Apart from the need for politicians to protect their interests.

Australian dollar briefly edges above 74 US cents in overseas trade

PHOTO: The Australian dollar rose back above 74 US cents briefly overnight.

The Australian dollar surged back above 74 US cents overnight, as overseas currency traders speculated that the Reserve Bank has finished with cuts to the official interest rate.

The RBA kept rates on hold at 2 per cent yesterdaybut no longer seems so concerned about the strength of the dollar, leading many analysts to conclude that rates will not go any lower from here.

The currency's overnight peak was well over 1.5 cents up on yesterday's low, though it was not sustained through the night.

The Aussie had fallen back to around 73.8 US cents by 7:45am (AEST).

It was also higher against the other major currencies at 67.8 euro cents, 47.4 British pence and 91.7 Japanese yen.

Wall Street lost ground for a third straight session, with investors continuing to worry about the likely future of US interest rates.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 48 points, or nearly 0.3 per cent, at 17,551.

The broader S&P 500 lost around 0.2 per cent (5 points) to 2,093.

European markets also mostly fell, breaking a five-day winning streak.

The Euro Stoxx index lost 0.4 per cent (16 points) to 3,619, with the Italian and Spanish markets particularly weighing.

The Athens stock exchange also fell again, in its second day of trade after a five-week suspension, though this time the fall was a relatively modest 1.2 per cent (8 points) to 660.

London's FTSE 100 closed nearly flat, down just 2 points at 6,687, while the German DAX rose 0.1 per cent (12 points) to 11,456.

Futures trade also points to losses for the Australian share market later this morning; the ASX SPI 200 was 16 points, or 0.3 per cent, lower at 5,623 at 7:45am (AEST).

Commodity prices were relatively stable overnight.

West Texas crude oil rose slightly to $US45.70 a barrel, but the key Brent benchmark slipped a little to $US49.42 a barrel.

Iron ore was weaker at $US55 a tonne, but spot gold rose modestly to $US1,088 an ounce.