APSNet 24 May 2010

1. Torpedo project turns 12 and still hasn’t made its point: auditor-general
2. Fund diplomacy and aid, says former defence head
3. Aid, or buying a seat on the UN Security Council?
4. South Korea hits out at Pyongyang for torpedo hit
5. [Japan] Hatoyama breaks promise on Futenma
6. [Afghanistan] Bold base strike shows Taliban’s rising resolve
7. Afghan MPs threaten to boycott Hamid Karzai’s Taliban peace talks plan

1. Torpedo project turns 12 and still hasn’t made its point: auditor-general, Tim Lester, SMH, 2010-05-21

The Auditor-General has blasted Defence for so badly mismanaging a $665 million torpedo purchase that after 12 years the Department still does not know what the program will deliver. In a report the Auditor-General found the program to install the MU90 anti-submarine torpedo on naval vessels and aircraft, approved by the Howard government in March 1998, “is yet to deliver an operational capability”.

• Lightweight torpedo replacement project, Department of Defence, Audit Report No.37 2009–10, Australian National Audit Office, 2010-05-20, [PDF 3.7MB]

2. Fund diplomacy and aid, says former defence head, Dan Harrison, Age, 2010-05-24

A former Defence Department head has questioned Australia’s security spending, and called for a redistribution of funding from military to diplomacy and foreign aid. Paul Barratt, who was secretary of the Defence Department from 1998 to 1999, also wants the law changed to require parliamentary approval to send troops to war.

• Vision 2030: an alternative approach to Australian security, Medical Association for the Prevention of War, 2010-05-24

3. Aid, or buying a seat on the UN Security Council? Archie Law, Australian, 2010-05-24

Australia has substantially boosted its aid to Africa after years of neglect. Although the move is welcome and long overdue, the program must be designed to benefit the poor rather than Australia’s interests.

4. South Korea hits out at Pyongyang for torpedo hit, Kirsty Needham, Age, 2010-05-21

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has called for ”resolute counter-actions against North Korea” from its international allies as the rogue state labelled a report finding it torpedoed a South Korean warship a ”fabrication”. North Korea threatened ”full-scale war” if the international community tightens sanctions in retaliation. However, analysts said although the Korean peninsula had been rocked by the March 26 attack, bellicose language was typical of the regime’s diplomacy.

• North Korea and the sinking of the Cheonan, Special editorial, Peter Drysdale, East Asia Forum, 2010-05-19
• The Cheonan report, Joshua Pollack, Arms Control Wonk, 2010-05-19
• The Cheonan report, continued, Joshua Pollack, Arms Control Wonk, 2010-05-22
• Who sank the South Korean warship Cheonan? A new stage in the US-Korean War and US-China relations, Sakai Tanaka, Asia-Pacific Journal, 21-1-10, 2010-05-24

5. Hatoyama breaks promise on Futenma, Asahi Shimbun, 2010-05-24

During a meeting with Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima, Hatoyama apologized for failing to live up to his promise of moving Futenma functions, at the very least, outside of Okinawa. Hatoyama explained that the deterrent force of the U.S. military presence in Japan, including the Marines in Okinawa, could not be lowered at the present time. “The recent conditions on the Korean Peninsula show there is still a considerable element of uncertainty in the security environment of East Asia,” Hatoyama said.

• In a fight, what would Marines in Okinawa do? Yoichi Kato and Keibun, Asahi Shimbun, 2010-05-24

6. Bold base strike shows Taliban’s rising resolve, Paul Koring, Globe and Mail, 2010-05-23

Deadly, brazen attacks in Kabul and Kandahar – including a salvo of short-range missiles that slammed into the centre of the airfield base housing thousands of Canadian and U.S. troops – underpin a tenacious Taliban willingness to battle for Afghan hearts and minds even as President Barack Obama escalates the war with tens of thousands of reinforcements.

• Taliban offensive in full effect in Afghanistan, Aljazeera, YouTube, 2010-05-22, (video)
• Taliban attack Qandahar airfield; parliament goes on strike, Juan Cole, Informed Comment, 2010-05-23

7. Afghan MPs threaten to boycott Hamid Karzai’s Taliban peace talks plan, Jon Boone, Guardian, 2010-05-23

President Hamid Karzai’s attempt to kickstart a peace process with the Taliban in Afghanistan has been delayed again by angry MPs who have threatened to boycott a national gathering intended to establish the ground rules for talks. The “peace jirga” of representatives from around the country had been due to convene in Kabul on 2 May, but was postponed while Karzai made a high profile trip to Washington.