APSNet Semi-Weekly Bulletin, February 1, 2010

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"APSNet Semi-Weekly Bulletin, February 1, 2010", APSNet Semi-Weekly Bulletin, February 01, 2010, https://nautilus.org/apsnet/apsnet-01-february-2010/

APSNet 01 February 2010

  1. New submarine project warned of dirty fight
  2. Royal Australian Navy push for closer links with Asia
  3. Legislature fears impact of US military build-up in Guam
  4. NATO troops clash with Afghan allies
  5. UK summit unveils new Afghan policy
  6. U.N. envoy to Afghanistan met with Taliban
  7. A nuclear wannabe; suspicious links to North Korea; high-tech procurements and enigmatic facilities
  8. The Iraq war must not remain a closed book

1. New submarine project warned of dirty fight, Cameron Stewart, Australian, 2010-01-30

Defence has received a confidential report on how to avoid the mistakes made by the Collins-class submarine program when it builds its new fleet of subs. The report goes beyond purely military matters and advises Defence on how to secure political support, control the media and handle the “very dirty” fight it says will inevitably break out over the nation’s largest defence project.

2. Royal Australian Navy push for closer links with Asia, Sean Parnell, Australian, 2010-01-30

Documents prepared for new Defence Department secretary Ian Watt reveal that the Rudd government is increasingly practicing diplomacy at sea, using the navy to forge closer relationships with countries – China, in particular – that it considers a potential threat or an important ally should there be conflict in the region.

3. Legislature fears impact of US military build-up in Guam, Corinne Podger, Australia Network News, 2010-01-29

The head of the committee responsible for overseeing the military build-up in Guam says the plan to move thousands of US military personnel to the island from Japan is unworkable in its current form. The arrival of up to 80,000 military personnel and their families on Guam by 2014 is expected to strengthen the economy, create jobs, and boost the construction and service industries.

4. NATO troops clash with Afghan allies, Asif Andalib, Reuters, 2010-01-30

NATO troops clashed with their Afghan allies in a so-called “friendly fire” incident, calling in air strikes that killed four Afghan soldiers and stoked anger among villagers. NATO and Afghan officials tried to head off tension by announcing a joint investigation into how their troops ended up battling each other in Wardak province, southwest of Kabul.

5. UK summit unveils new Afghan policy, Aljazeera, 2010-01-29

Control over some of Afghanistan’s provinces is to be handed over to the Afghan government by the end of 2010, according to foreign ministers attending a one-day international conference in London. David Miliband, the UK foreign minister, said that 2010 was a “decisive” year because a new government was in place, adding that security of all provinces would be under Afghanistan leadership within five years.

6. U.N. envoy to Afghanistan met with Taliban, Alan Cullison, Jay Solomon and Matthew Rosenberg, WSJ, 2010-01-29

The United Nations’ top representative to Afghanistan says he met with Taliban officials earlier this month, amid heightened efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the eight-year-old conflict, a U.N. official said. Diplomats declined to say how senior the Taliban officials were, however, and said the overture by Kai Eide, who steps down as the U.N.’s envoy to Afghanistan in March, appears to have been his alone.

7. A nuclear wannabe; suspicious links to North Korea; high-tech procurements and enigmatic facilities, David Albright, Paul Brannan, Robert Kelley and Andrea Scheel Stricker, ISIS, 2010-01-28

For several years, suspicions have swirled about the nuclear intentions of Burma’s secretive military dictatorship.  Burma is cooperating with North Korea on possible nuclear procurements and appears to be misleading overseas suppliers in obtaining top-of-the-line equipment.

  • Myanmar, ASEAN nuclear power developments, Richard Tanter and Arabella Imhoff, Nautilus Institute, 2010-01-28

8. The Iraq war must not remain a closed book, Editorial, Age, 2010-01-30

The remarkable thing about the Chilcot inquiry for Australians is that it is being held at all. The reluctance of Australian governments to countenance independent inquiries into the conduct of their predecessors is a puzzling – and depressing – aspect of this country’s political culture. An inquiry into the war by independent commissioners would not be vulnerable to such accusations.