My father fought alongside the Aussies in WW I - a good friend, unfortunately no longer with us, was with them during the siege of Tobruk. Both he and my Dad considered they were honoured to be in the presence of some of the world's best fighting men.

Perhaps the greatest compliment to the fighting prowess of the Aussies came from the lips of a Gurkha Subadhar of the 4th Indian Division. After delivering a German officer (who had surrendered to my tank) to the Subadhar's HQ he invited me to enjoy a cup of "cha" with him. When I complimented him on the fighting qualities of his Regiment, he said "We fight like Tigers just as do you, the White Tigers from the North!" Turned out he thought I was an Australian as were those with whom his Regiment had fought alongside in the Western Desert. I have often wondered about the "White Tigers from the North" - perhaps he was referring to the Siberian species.

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Originally posted by Gerry Chester:
It appears that the current contribution of Australian forces in Iraq is being virtually ignored by the media particularly,

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I think they contributing about 2,000 out of the 200,000+ involved (1%). It would appear that they have gotten their fair share of media coverage in the US. I don't think they have had anyone killed yet.

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Originally posted by Chris Lawrence:
I think they contributing about 2,000 out of the 200,000+ involved (1%). It would appear that they have gotten their fair share of media coverage in the US. I don't think they have had anyone killed yet.

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If indeed the Aussies "have gotten their fair share of media coverage in the US" none of my American friends are aware of it. Surely the fair way to compare the commitments of members of the coalition would be to base it on a population/contribution ratio. Whether this is, or is not a reasonable way to measure the involvement of individual countries, the major (Army) Aussie contribution to the conflict (ASASR and Commandos) forms a significant percentage of Special Operations Forces in the field. Not only have they have been directing air strikes on targets and conducting Strategic reconnaissance, they also have been in several fire-fights including a raid on an Iraqi HQ during which many of the enemy were killed.

As Australia (with my country Britain) was among the first to commit to the common cause, is it not reasonable to expect that those in high places might, from time to time, acknowledge that folks from Down Under are indeed actively involved?

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Originally posted by Gerry Chester:
If indeed the Aussies "have gotten their fair share of media coverage in the US" none of my American friends are aware of it.

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Its clearly there. Centcom has given a number of briefings flanked by various allies (including the Dutch), and I do recall seeing a session where a part of the breifing was given by an Australian commander.

Obviously, for political reasons, the administration has been very interested in emphasizing the allies.

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...the major (Army) Aussie contribution to the conflict (ASASR and Commandos) forms a significant percentage of Special Operations Forces in the field.

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Well, for obvious reasons, there is not a lot of wartime reporting on special operations. I have have not seen any broadcasts from embedded journalists with special operations forces, and assume that for obvious reasons, there is not a lot of embedded journalists doing real-time reports. I have not seen a thing about the Polish special operations forces, for example.

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...is it not reasonable to expect that those in high places might, from time to time, acknowledge that folks from Down Under are indeed actively involved?

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I think CENTCOM has been very careful to acknowledge this contribution. On the other hand, the US media is not controlled by the government (although one gets the opposite impression with Fox News).