APSNet 2 October 2008

1. Defence White Paper to Decide Future of Patrol Boat
2. Diggers Nab another Taliban Insurgent
3. British Envoy Says Mission in Afghanistan Is Doomed, According to Leaked Memo
4. Japan Premier Aso Promises Terrorism Fight, Growth in UN Speech
5. Timor Police Tensions Worry Authorities
6. UN Told of Coup Cycle, Peacekeeping Link
7. Iraq: Is This a ‘Victory’?
8. US Senate Passes Indian Nuclear Deal
9. Balancing Competitive Demands: A Contribution to the 2008 Defence White Paper Community Consultation Process

1. Defence White Paper to Decide Future of Patrol Boat, Mark Dodd, Australian, 2008-09-30

The future of the program that supplies 22 Australian patrol boats for use by small Pacific nations will be determined in a new Defence White Paper. In a submission to a Senate committee, defence said the program was the ADF’s major contribution to regional maritime and economic security. The ADF is concerned that the program is under pressure with high costs leading these vessels to spend an average of just 36 days a year at sea.

• Inquiry into the Economic and Security Challenges Facing Papua New Guinea and the Island States of the Southwest Pacific, Submission, Department of Defence, August 2008 [1.41 MB, PDF]
• Submissions Received: Inquiry into the Economic and Security Challenges Facing Papua New Guinea and the Island States of the Southwest Pacific, Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee, October 2008
• Pacific Patrol Boat Program, Australia in the Pacific Islands, Nautilus Institute

2. Diggers Nab another Taliban Insurgent, Mark Dodd, Australian, 2008-10-01

Australian special forces have captured a senior Taliban official responsible for a string of attacks on Afghan and NATO-led coalition forces in southern Oruzgan province. The NATO-led ISAF said Ahmad Shah’s arrest would “significantly disrupt” attacks in the troubled province. It is understood Shah was captured along with several armed followers in an operation involving Australian special forces and Afghan National Army soldiers.

• ADF – Enemy-Engagements, Australia in Afghanistan, Nautilus Institute

3. British Envoy Says Mission in Afghanistan Is Doomed, According to Leaked Memo, Charles Bremner and Michael Evans, Times, 2008-10-02

Britain’s Ambassador to Afghanistan has reportedly [said] that the campaign against the Taleban insurgents would fail and that the best hope was to install an acceptable dictator in Kabul. Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles delivered his bleak assessment of the seven-year NATO campaign in Afghanistan in a briefing with a French diplomat, according to French leaks. However sources in Whitehall said the account was a parody of the British Ambassador’s remarks.

• Insurgents in Afghanistan Are Gaining, Petraeus Says, Carlotta Gall, NYT, 2008-10-01
• Trio of Warlords Blamed for Surge in Afghanistan Violence, Greg Miller, Los Angeles Times, 2008-09-30

4. Japan Premier Aso Promises Terrorism Fight, Growth in UN Speech, Bloomberg, 2008-09-25

Aso, who replaced Yasuo Fukuda on Sept. 24, said Japan would continue its naval refueling mission in the Indian Ocean that supports the US-led war in Afghanistan.

• MSDF Mission above Diet Politics: Hamada, Jun Hongo, Japan Times, 2008-10-2
• Japan Adrift in the Indian Ocean, Richard Tanter, Asia Times, 2008-10-02

5. Timor Police Tensions Worry Authorities, AAP, Age, 2008-10-01

Worrying signs are emerging of tensions within East Timor’s police force, similar to the rift among armed forces that sparked deadly violence in 2006. Authorities are preparing to appoint a new police commander amid a new push to rid the force of corrupt and undisciplined officers. But evidence of a flare-up in regional tensions, between those from the country’s east and west, have authorities concerned.

6. UN Told of Coup Cycle, Peacekeeping Link, Fiji Times, 2008-10-01

The UN has been told to consider links between Fiji’s role in international peacekeeping and the coup cycle. Pacific Concerns Resource Centre spokeswoman Ema Tagicakibau said the knowledge gained by the troops helped them carry out coups at home. “It is time to seriously weigh the economic benefits from peace-keeping against the economic, political, social and legal costs of the four coups,” Ms Tagicakibau said.

7. Is This a ‘Victory’? Peter W. Galbraith, Vol55, No16, NYRB, 2008-10-23

Al-Maliki’s agenda is transparent. The Kurds and Sunnis are obstacles to the ruling coalition’s ambitions for a Shiite Islamic state. Al-Maliki wants to eliminate the Sunni militia and contain the Kurds politically and geographically. America’s interest in defeating al-Qaeda is far less important to him. It is hard to understand how this can be called a success – or a path to victory.

• Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq: Report to Congress, US Department of Defense, September 2008 [1.24 MB, PDF]

8. US Senate Passes Indian Nuclear Deal, AFP, Age, 2008-10-02

The US Senate has endorsed a landmark US-India nuclear agreement, removing the final legislative hurdle for resumption of civilian nuclear trade between the two countries after three decades. The agreement was already approved by the US House of Representatives.

9. Balancing Competitive Demands: A Contribution to the 2008 Defence White Paper Community Consultation Process, RUSI, August 2008 [567 KB, PDF]

The proceedings of a Royal United Services Institute of Australia (RUSI) Forum, held in Canberra, 6 August 2008. In holding this Forum, RUSI’s specific aim was to present as its contribution to the 2008 Defence White Paper Community Consultation process, a diverse set of informed views which would contribute to a broader understanding of key national security and defence issues.

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