New Zealand will send its elite Special Air Service troops back to Afghanistan after a three-year break.
Prime Minister John Key says about 70 troops will be deployed for up to 18 months, in three rotations.
Mr Key says there's a real possibility troops may die, but the country must do its bit to eradicate terrorism.
"Afghanistan is a dangerous place and we're deploying out elite military there to try and stabilise the position in Afghanistan," he said.
"But I'm confident that we have some of the best people in the world, and we're now asking them to complete a very difficult task. We can say that two specific units are returning to Afghanistan due to the fact that they are two of our best units." <---- (My unit)
But New Zealand's opposition Labour Party says it's against the deployment.
Phil Goff, leader of the Labour Party, which sent the SAS to Afghanistan three times when it was in government, now says they oppose the idea.
"We've spent a $180 million dollars in Afghanistan, most of that's been military expenditure. Maybe there's some more balance to be found in the development assistance side again in terms of winning people's hearts and minds," he said.
Mr Key says in keeping with long-standing practice he will make no comment on the operational aspects of the SAS deployment.
The SAS troops have been deployed three times in Afghanistan, the last time in 2006, and the United States has made repeated overtures for their return.
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New Zealand's elite Special Air Force soldiers could be back in Afghanistan within months.
An official request by the United States is understood to have been lodged with New Zealand just hours before a meeting in Washington between Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully and American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this month.
The request comes as New Zealand reviews its deployment to the long-running war, including the possible early withdrawal of nearly 140 Kiwi troops from Bamyan province, an engagement which is taking a mounting toll on strained defence resources.
The Government recently rolled over the Bamyan Provincial Reconstruction Team's deployment for another year from September but sources confirmed yesterday that an earlier withdrawal was on the cards as the deployment neared its seventh year.
The US is understood to have delivered its request to the Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry. It would normally be considered unusual for an official request to be lodged before the US had informal indications of a positive response.
But Government sources said yesterday that no decision had been made and other factors had to be weighed up.
They are likely to include a firm timetable for withdrawal, both for the SAS and the Bamyan team, amid growing concerns about the ability of New Zealand's already stretched defence forces to respond to flash points closer to home, including the Pacific.
Soundings are already being taken over the prospect of another country's troops stepping into the gap left by the withdrawal of New Zealand's Bamyan team.
The SAS first left for Afghanistan in 2001. The deployment was shrouded in secrecy after the then Labour government at first refused to confirm the move after a US request.
That deployment lasted 12 months and there were two subsequent deployments of six months each. As many as 65 of the crack soldiers were deployed each time, working alongside other special forces as part of the US-led joint special operations taskforce.
In 2004 the SAS received a US Presidential Citation for "extraordinary heroism" but it was not till 2007 that New Zealand honoured SAS trooper Willy Apiata with a Victoria Cross for heroism during a battle with Afghan insurgents.
The US is understood to have specifically requested the SAS in its recent approach.
Subject: Troops being deployed 
Sat Aug 22, 2009 5:59 am
