- Kiwis reject call for Anzac mission in Afghanistan
- Former ambassadors question silence on the ‘excesses’ of Israel
- Diggers cleared of shooting Afghan police
- Navy capability review 2010
- Nuclear proliferation in South Asia: the power of nightmares
- Deception and denials in Myanmar
- Report faults U.S. for being too optimistic about Afghan security capabilities
- Petraeus pledges look at strikes in Afghanistan
- RI poised to buy US fighters, cargo jets
1. Kiwis reject call for Anzac mission in Afghanistan, Mark Davis, SMH, 2010-07-01
New Zealand’s Prime Minister, John Key, has revealed he turned down a request to send Kiwi soldiers to help Australian forces in Afghanistan because he had reservations about the prospects of winning the war after visiting the strife-torn country.
2. Former ambassadors question silence on the ‘excesses’ of Israel, Dan Oakes, SMH, 2010-06-29
A former Australian ambassador to Israel has accused the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, of being silent on the ”excesses” of Israel and questioned why her partner has been given a job by a prominent Israel lobbyist. Ross Burns, who served as an ambassador between 2001 and 2003, said Ms Gillard has been ”remarkably taciturn on the excesses of Israeli actions in the past two years”.
3. Diggers cleared of shooting Afghan police, Dan Oakes, SMH, 2010-06-29
Australian soldiers who shot dead an Afghan policeman and wounded another at a roadblock last year have been cleared by an inquiry. But the investigators also found that Australian soldiers were insufficiently trained to effectively staff checkpoints at the time of the shootings.
4. Navy capability review 2010, Andrew Davies, ASPI, 2010-06-30
This paper is an update of a 2008 ASPI paper and provides an overview of the capability of the Royal Australian Navy intended as a snapshot of current capability and as a primer on the structure and equipment of the RAN.
5. Nuclear proliferation in South Asia: the power of nightmares, Economist, 2010-06-24
China’s proposed sale of two civilian nuclear-power reactors to Pakistan hardly seems a danger sign. Pakistan already has the bomb, so it has all the nuclear secrets it needs. Yet the sale has caused shudders at the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), an informal cartel of countries who want to stop their advanced nuclear technology getting into the wrong hands. They are meeting in New Zealand, for what was supposed to be a quiet and nerdish rule-tightening session. But their efforts may now fall victim to China’s rivalry with America.
6. Deception and denials in Myanmar, Bertil Lintner, Aisa Times, 2010-06-29
Myanmar’s’s military government issued pro-forma denials after al-Jazeera aired an investigative report by the Oslo-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) alleging that Myanmar is attempting to develop nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. But as the international community weighs the evidence, the regime could soon face United Nations-imposed sanctions for its military dealings with North Korea.
7. Report faults U.S. for being too optimistic about Afghan security capabilities, Karen DeYoung, Washington Post, 2010-06-29
The U.S. military has systematically overstated or failed to adequately measure the capabilities of Afghan security forces, whose performance is key to the Obama administration’s exit strategy for the war, according to a new government audit.
- Actions needed to improve the reliability of Afghan Security Force assessments, Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, 2010-06-29, [PDF, 2.7 MB]
8. Petraeus pledges look at strikes in Afghanistan, Elisabeth Bumiller, NYT, 2010-06-29
Calling the protection of his troops a “moral imperative,” Gen. David H. Petraeus said that he would closely review restrictions on United States airstrikes and artillery in Afghanistan, which have cut down on civilian casualties but have been bitterly criticized by American troops who say they have made the fight more dangerous.
- Petraeus confirmed quickly by committee; seminary rioting, Jalabad Airport bombings, Juan Cole, Informed Comment, 2010-06-30
- How tribal are the Taleban? Afghanistan’s largest insurgent movement between its tribal roots and Islamist ideology, Thomas Ruttig, Afghanistan Analysts Network, 2010-06-29
9. RI poised to buy US fighters, cargo jets, Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta Post, 2010-06-30
Indonesia has told the US it wants to buy billions of dollars of American-made military aircraft, in hopes that a US-embargo on military sales to the country may soon be lifted.
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