APSNet Semi-Weekly Bulletin, February 12, 2009

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APSNet 12 February 2009

  1. Rio, Chinalco Ink $US20b Deal
  2. RI to Purchase Russian Submarine
  3. US, NATO Forces in Advanced Plans to Create Citizen Militias in Afghanistan: Reveals Leaked Email
  4. Taliban Attacks in Kabul Kill 20
  5. Pakistan Isn’t a Sideshow, It’s the Main Event
  6. Rudd Must Not Retreat From Our War Criminals

1. Rio, Chinalco Ink $US20b Deal, Age, 2009-02-12

Debt-laden mining group Rio Tinto has agreed to a $US19.5 billion ($30 billion) cash injection from Chinese state-owned Chinalco. Under the terms of the deal, Chinalco will increase its stake in Rio to 18%, from 9%. Chinalco will also invest $US12.3 billion in three strategic partnerships with Rio across its copper, aluminium and iron ore divisions.

2. RI to Purchase Russian Submarine, Jakarta Post, 2009-02-09

“There’s always been a plan to purchase submarine and I’ve surveyed a few submarine workshops in Moscow, Russia. This submarine is to display our naval strength and also anticipate any armed conflicts,” deputy speaker of the [Indonesian] House of Representatives’ Commission I on Political, Security and Foreign Affairs Yusron Ihza said.

3. US, NATO Forces in Advanced Plans to Create Citizen Militias in Afghanistan: Reveals Leaked Email, Virginia M. Moncrieff, Huffington Post, 2009-02-11

A leaked email indicates just how far advanced the plans are to create local militias in Afghanistan. The email states that the Afghanistan Ministry of Interior made a secret presentation to a select audience about the establishment of tribal militias. The presentation covered “who will select them, who will control them, will they be armed & paid and what will they do.”

4. Taliban Attacks in Kabul Kill 20, Javed Hamdard, Pamela Constable and Howard Schneider, Washington Post, 2009-02-11

A trio of closely coordinated attacks left 20 people dead and at least 54 wounded in the Afghan capital, after separate teams of gunmen and bombers targeted two downtown government ministries and a suburban corrections facility. The attacks created panic in the crowded city center until security forces were able to restore control after a four-hour battle.

5. Pakistan Isn’t a Sideshow, It’s the Main Event, China Hand, China Matters, 2009-02-11

The U.S. considers the battles in west Pakistan an adjunct to the faltering Afghan adventure. This is a fatal misreading of the facts on the ground and ranks as a strategic blunder of historical portions. It turns out the war against the Taliban is a counterinsurgency operation across the entire Pashtun ethnic area and in which the Taliban have discovered that their key bulwark against NATO and U.S. operations is, unsurprisingly, the Pakistan side.

6. Rudd Must Not Retreat From Our War Criminals, Fergus Hanson, SMH, 2009-02-11

Australia is wholehearted in its effort to bring external war criminals to justice. For suspected war criminals living in Australia, our approach is far more apathetic: for a long time now we have risked looking like a safe haven. Since the war crimes unit was shut down in 1992, Australia has adopted a “no policy” approach to accused war criminals.

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