Danger drawn closer

There has not been a terrorist attack in New Zealand since the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior by French foreign intelligence services in 1985.

But John Key's decision yesterday to send 143 soldiers to Iraq for training purposes may well bring the next attack that much closer.

Key's insistence that "we cannot do nothing" about the threat posed by Islamic fundamentalists in the Middle East requires serious elaboration. A number of countries are happily staying well away from what is a scrap over local turf.

And, of course, goading us into military intervention is just what Isis wants - hence the release of those gut-wrenching videos of executions.

There are plenty of similar atrocities being carried out elsewhere in the world but what one might generally term "the Western alliance" is not sending troops to those places. The oil-rich Middle East is the battleground worth fighting for.

The Americans have gone to war over oil before and, with a substantial armaments and reconstruction industry to satisfy, their involvement is no surprise.

Australia, led by a gung-ho and seemingly incompetent prime minister, is also going over the top. And so, sadly, the Anzac spirit has been waved about and Mr Key has made it clear he wants to be in "the club" and, of course, protect any possible trade deals with the United States.

But Gallipoli was 100 years ago. It is history. The world has changed dramatically and splintered hugely.

When New Zealand won its place at the United Nations Security Council it was seen as an independent voice able to stand aside from the interests of the major powers - and that line was certainly sold by the Government.

It has failed the first test and has put the lives in New Zealanders around the world in some jeopardy. And to what purpose? Almost certainly not an end to fundamentalist terror.