APSNet 2 November 2009

1. Next-generation subs to cost $36bn
   
2. More blood sure to spill
   
3. Indonesian President’s Reform Credentials at Risk
4. Deep inside Indonesia’s kill zone
   
5. Hamid Karzai’s rival, Abdullah Abdullah, pulls out of poll
6. Afghan plan under wraps until after fact-finding trip
7. NATO forces turn to warlords
   
8. Eliminating nuclear weapons: Australia’s role

1. Next-generation subs to cost $36bn, John Kerin, AFR*, 2009-10-30

The government has been warned it will cost $36 billion to build 12 submarines and ASC, the government-owned sub builder, might need to be restructured to reduce the risk of the country’s most ambitious defence project failing.
*[subscription required]

• How to buy a submarine: defining and building Australia’s future fleet, ASPI, 2009-10-29
• Rudd all at sea when it comes to subs, Brian Toohey, AFR*, 2009-10-31*[subscription required]

  2. More blood sure to spill, Tony Walker, AFR*, 2009-11-02

The transition of Iraq from American-occupied territory to a sovereign state responsible for its own destiny is not going as smoothly as some would have you believe. Australian policymakers would be advised to pay close attention to these developments, since Australia as a founder member of the “coalition of the willing”, has residual
responsibilities in Iraq, irrespective of whether it has a military presence or not.

  3. Indonesian President’s Reform Credentials at Risk, Asia Sentinel, 2009-11-02

The confrontation between Indonesia’s notoriously corrupt police and its beleaguered Corruption Eradication Commission has erupted into a major test for the reform credentials of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who may be risking his popularity and even his political agenda by refusing to take action. The public outcry has been strong, with reform-minded NGOs and common people alike speaking out against the arrests.

 4. Deep inside Indonesia’s kill zone, John McBeth, Asia Times, 2009-10-31

Indonesia’s Detachment 88 counter-terrorism crisis response teams have staged two sieges in the past two months, laid down a heavy barrage of gunfire and killed five leading militants. There is a suspicion that police have been simply killing the suspects to dispense with the headaches of long and perhaps theatrical trials. But Detachment 88’s reluctance to engagethe militants at close quarters probably stems from the fact that it has insufficient teargas and stun grenades and, more importantly, the advanced training to use them effectively.

• Detachment 88, Wikipedia

 5. Hamid Karzai’s rival, Abdullah Abdullah, pulls out of poll, AFP, Australian, 2009-11-2

Afghanistan was plunged into further uncertainty after opposition candidate Abdullah Abdullah pulled out of the runoff presidential election. Dr Abdullah pulled out of the poll after President Hamid Karzai refused to sack the head of the Independent Election Commission, held responsible by the challenger’s camp for the massive fraud in the August 20 first round. The former foreign minister said he saw no point in standing, while stopping short of calling for a boycott.

• Confronting the hydra: big problems with small wars, Mark O’Neill,Lowy Institute [PDF, 589KB]
• Fraud fears grow as Afghan election body defies UN, Jon Boone,Guardian, 2009-10-29

 6. Afghan plan under wraps until after fact-finding trip, Yoo Jee-ho, JoongAng Daily, 2009-11-02

Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan briefed the nation’s political parties on the government’s plan to dispatch civilian workers and non-combat troops to Afghanistan. The Foreign Ministry said the plan will be finalized after a government fact-finding unit completes its on-site investigation within the year.

 7. NATO forces turn to warlords, Gareth Porter, Asia Times, 2009-10-31

The revelation by the New York Times that Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, has long been on the payroll of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), is only the tip of a much bigger iceberg of heavy dependence by US and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) counter-insurgency forces on Afghan warlords for
security, according to a recently published report and investigations by Australian and Canadian journalists.

• The public cost of private security in Afghanistan, Jake Sherman andVictoria DiDomenico, Center on International Cooperation at New York University (NYU), 2009-10, [PDF, 304KB]
• Brother of Afghan Leader Said to Be Paid by C.I.A., Dexter Filkins, Mark Mazzetti and James Risen, NYT, 2009-10-27

 8. Eliminating nuclear weapons: Australia’s role, Daniel Tynan, APO, 2009-10-30

There is a widely held view, that the world is on the cusp of an unprecedented wave of nuclear weapons proliferation. Former US Secretary of Defence, William Perry, remarked, “I believe we are at a tipping point of proliferation. And if the world does tip, it will be irreversible and dangerous beyond most people’s imagination.” It is essential that countries like Australia, with the resources, capacity and international standing to act, take the lead in developing practical
policy solutions to champion the elimination of nuclear weapons.
 

Nautilus Institute and affiliated information services

• Australian region (APSNet – this newsletter): Free subscription.
• Northeast Asia (NAPSNet): Free subscription.
• Climate change adaptation (AdaptNet): Free subscription.

 For further information, please contact the APSNet editor, Arabella Imhoff.

Subscribe

To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit:
https://nautilus.org/mailman/listinfo/apsnet

—
Richard Tanter,
Project Co-ordinator