WELLINGTON, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's top military officer is attending a defense chiefs' meeting in the United States to discuss strategies against Islamic State (IS) insurgents in the Middle East, sparking concerns on Wednesday that Prime Minister John Key has committed the country to a war without any public debate.
A statement from the U.S. Department of Defense said the New Zealand defense force head was among military chiefs from 21 nations attending a meeting hosted by U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman General Martin Dempsey at Joint Base Andrews, in Maryland.
President Barack Obama was to address the meeting "to coordinate strategies in the fight against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists," a Pentagon spokesman said in the statement.
Key, who ruled out New Zealand military involvement in the fight against IS before last month's general election, said New Zealand Chief of Defense Force Lieutenant-General Tim Keating's presence at the meeting did not signal a shift in New Zealand's position.
Radio New Zealand reported Wednesday that Key said the meeting was a regular event for the New Zealand Chief of Defense Force.
"It's true that one of the topics of conversation will be what contribution that countries might make, although that's not the purpose of the meeting, as I understand it, it's their regular meeting," Key reportedly said.
Key said the government was in the process of considering what help it might be able to offer, and the meeting was part of that process.
"All we can do is getting a sense of what others are doing, what might be useful, and feed that into the mix. It doesn't change the decision-making process we go through, and you can't, as a government make decisions that impact our country and those who serve our country, unless you do it on an informed basis," he said.
The main opposition Labor Party said the presence of Keating at the meeting suggested Key had already committed to a military deployment despite offering to consult Opposition parties before making any decision.
"Today he is pretending that the Washington meeting is just a regular meeting. That is patently untrue. The Pentagon has said that the meeting is to discuss each country's contribution to the campaign against ISIS. President Obama's presence there makes this anything but a regular meeting," Labor defense spokesperson Phil Goff said in a statement.
"New Zealand lives ought not to be put at risk unless there are justifiable and achievable objectives, the risk is at acceptable levels and there is an exit strategy."
Last week, Key said the government would decide by the middle of next month whether the country would join the fight against IS in Iraq and Syria.
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