APSNet Semi-Weekly Bulletin, July 21, 2008

Recommended Citation

"APSNet Semi-Weekly Bulletin, July 21, 2008", APSNet Semi-Weekly Bulletin, July 21, 2008, https://nautilus.org/apsnet/apsnet-21-july-2008/

APSNet 21 July 2008

  1. Police in Raids over E Timor Shootings
  2. Australia and United States Defence Satellite Communications Cooperation at Geraldton
  3. Stifling Soldiers of Spin
  4. US Looks to Boost Troop Numbers
  5. Japan: Govt Drops Plan to Send SDF Troops to Afghanistan
  6. Coalition Warships Seize 30 Tonnes of Afghan Drugs
  7. TNI Responsible For East Timor Mayhem: Chief

1. Police in Raids over E Timor Shootings, Paul Toohey, Australian, 2008-07-19

The Australian Federal Police has been conducting raids in Darwin and investigations into Australian-owned businesses in East Timor, in an attempt to flush out links to the February 11 attack on President Jose Ramos Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao. Police officers raided a Darwin home looking for evidence that Teresa de Sousa had aided and abetted an attack on “an internationally protected person”.

2. Australia and United States Defence Satellite Communications Cooperation at Geraldton, Department of Defence, 2008-07-21

Construction activity is expected to commence on a joint Australian and United States defence satellite communications ground station at the Australian Defence Satellite Communications Station (ADSCS) Geraldton in 2008. The station will support the US Navy’s Mobile User Objective System (MUOS), which is a satellite-based mobile phone network designed to support US, Australian and allied military users. 

3. Stifling Soldiers of Spin, Tom Hyland, Age, 2008-07-20

If Australians do have a “robust” tolerance of casualties, the Government and the Australian Defence Force have an even more robust approach to the independent reporting of such losses and the circumstances in which they occur. The ADF’s news control is all-encompassing and costly – about 200 staff with a budget of more than $22 million produce what public affairs experts call “strategic shaping tools”. It’s called spin.

4. US Looks to Boost Troop Numbers, Anne Davies, SMH, 2008-07-18

The United States wants to send additional forces to Afghanistan “sooner rather than later”, the US Defence Secretary, Robert Gates, has announced. Mr Gates met the Australian Defence Minister, Joel Fitzgibbon, at the Pentagon on Wednesday, and Mr Fitzgibbon reiterated his view that more troops were needed in Afghanistan if victory was to be achieved.

5. Govt Drops Plan to Send SDF Troops to Afghanistan, Yomiuri Shimbun, 2008-07-19

The [Japanese] government will not expand the role of the Self-Defense Forces in and around Afghanistan by sending SDF personnel to the country due to the worsening security situation there.

6. Coalition Warships Seize 30 Tonnes of Afghan Drugs, ABC, 2008-07-16

British and other warships operating in the Gulf have seized 30 tonnes of narcotics being smuggled from Afghanistan as part of suspected Taliban-financing operations, the operation’s headquarters said.

7. TNI Responsible For East Timor Mayhem: Chief, Jakarta Post, 2008-07-18

The Indonesian Military (TNI) on Thursday admitted partial responsibility for gross human rights violations in East Timor in 1999, saying it would abide by any government decisions to follow up on a joint truth commission report. The TNI will wait for whatever action the government considers taking next,” TNI chief Gen. Djoko Santoso said.

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Richard Tanter,
Project Co-ordinator