The jihadist fighters of Islamic State camped in northern Iraq and Syria will hardly be quaking in fear behind their black balaclavas if they have read yesterday's speech by John Key on the threat he claims they pose to New Zealand's national security.
They would not have been surprised by the limited scale of New Zealand's yet-to-be-approved contribution to the American-led Operation Inherent Resolve. That is almost always more symbolic than substantial for such deployments. It is the nature of that contribution which speaks volumes. In this case, it is pretty minimalist.
The likely dispatch of some unspecified number of military advisers to help Iraq's armed forces beat back the jihadists is in line with the contributions of other countries. But NZ's response, which falls way short of the gung-ho stance of Britain, Australia and the United States, might - given all the glowing language about the normalising of defence relations between Washington and Wellington - have been expected to have been more forthright or enthusiastic.
It is now a case of where the US, Britain and Australia go, we still go ... well, sort of go. It may be enough to satisfy Washington ... well, sort of. It may be enough to convince sceptics at home that NZ really does have an independent foreign policy ... well, sort of.
Ignore the "we're at war" headlines which popped up on websites after the Prime Minister's speech. We ain't. The military advisers - if they go - will be confined to base.
