APSNet 22 February 2010
- We’ll take Japan to court: PM
- Army’s lethal legal gap
- Dutch cabinet, Balkenende’s fourth, collapses
- Afghan push went beyond traditional military goals
- Fiji mends diplomatic ties with New Zealand
1. We’ll take Japan to court: PM, Peter Alford and Matthew Franklin, Australian, 2010-02-20
Kevin Rudd has promised to take Japan to the International Court of Justice if it doesn’t agree before November to stop Antarctic whaling, but a behind-closed-doors deal with the Japanese could blow a big hole in the Prime Minister’s case before then.
- NZ will back court action over whaling, NZPA, SMH, 2010-02-22
- Shohei Yonemoto: useless research whaling should be abolished, Asahi Shimbun, 2010-01-23
2. Army’s lethal legal gap, Tom Hyland, Age, 2010-02-21
Army chiefs have refused to act on warnings that major gaps in the training of military legal officers are increasing the risk of Australian troops killing civilians in Afghanistan. The legal officers were not properly trained for their role in advising commanders on the legality of targeted killings of insurgents, an inquiry has found.
- The law of instant death, Tom Hyland, Age, 2010-02-21
- Government Inquiries – Afghanistan, Australia in Afghanistan, Nautilus Institute
- Drones are playing a growing role in Afghanistan, Christopher Drew, NYT, 2010-02-19
3. Dutch cabinet, Balkenende’s fourth, collapses, AP, NRChandelsblad, 2010-02-20
The Dutch coalition government fell because it could not come to an agreement over whether to extend the Netherlands’ military mission in Afghanistan.
- Afghan Diggers won’t fill void left by Dutch, Peter Wilson, Australian, 2010-02-22
- Dutch confirm Afghan troop pullout sparking fears of domino effect, David Charter and Tom Coghlan, Times, 2010-02-22
4. Afghan push went beyond traditional military goals, Thom Shanker, NYT, 2010-02-19
No other feature of the offensive now under way in and around the town, Marja, speaks so clearly to its central characteristic: it is a campaign meant to shift perceptions as much as to alter the military balance, crush an enemy army or seize some vital crossroads.
- General Stanley McChrystal puts focus on Afghan province of Kandahar, Deborah Haynes, Times, 2010-02-22
- Tackling opium is key to successful operation in Marjah, analysts say, Jerome Starkey, Times, 2010-02-22
5. Fiji mends diplomatic ties with New Zealand, AFP, Australian, 2010-02-20
Fiji and New Zealand said they had cleared the way for diplomats to return to their embassies in Wellington and Suva, following a second round of talks in three weeks. Relations between the two countries have been strained since a military coup in Fiji three years ago and further deteriorated last year with the tit-for-tat expulsion of senior diplomats.