clipped from: www.reuters.com CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia's soldiers fighting Taliban militants in Afghanistan are up in arms, over Dutch food.
A special team of Australian military cooks had been rushed to Afghanistan to produce "Aussie food" after scores of soldiers complained about the Dutch-run mess at Tirin Kot military base, in southern Uruzgan province, parliament was told Wednesday.
"I think the issue is that it's not Aussie food, it's European food. It's true that people have been quite strong in their views about the European food," Australia's military commander Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston told lawmakers at a special defense budget hearing.
Most of the soldiers are fighting alongside Dutch forces leading coalition efforts in Uruzgan, although special forces commandos have their own Australian cook.
"We listen to our people. Our people have indicated that they'd like some Aussie food," Houston said.