APSNet 3 March 2008

1. Wildly Overpriced, Totally Unsuitable
2. Australia to Fight Messy Wars: Expert
3. Rudds $450m Pacific Islands Package
4. Papua People’s Assembly Opposes Plans for New Province in its Region
5. ADF to Fight Iraqi Lawsuit
6. Al Qaeda, Afghanistan and the Good War
7. Locals Reject Nuclear Project on Mount Muria

1. Wildly Overpriced, Totally Unsuitable, Brian Toohey, AFR*, 2008-03-01

The best thing about the F-22 Raptor is that the United States government is forbidden by law from selling the wildly overpriced, totally unsuitable fighter plane to Australia or any other country. A sensible minister would say, “Thank heavens for that”. But this is not what Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon has done.
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• US Rules Out Deal on F-22 Raptor Fighter Jets, Cameron Stewart, Australian, 2007-02-14
• F-22 Raptor, GlobalSecurity.org
• Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor, Air Power Australia 

2. Australia to Fight Messy Wars: Expert, Age, 2008-03-03

Australia will fight more messy wars like those in Iraq and Afghanistan, defence expert Alan Dupont says. Both wars are far from the conventional battles of the 20th century with a variety of enemies often working independent of each other. With this new kind of war would come the “ongoing problem” of weapons of mass destruction and most worryingly nuclear armed weapons.

3. Rudds $450m Pacific Islands Package, John Kerin, AFR*, 2008-03-03

A $450 million strategy to combat climate change and improve access to water and sanitation in vulnerable pacific nations is expected to be signed off by federal cabinet today. The aid spending is part of Mr Rudd’s broader $6 billion-plus plan to take a fresh approach to providing aid in our neighbourhood.
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4. Papua People’s Assembly Opposes Plans for New Province in its Region, RNZI, 2008-03-02

The Papua People’s Assembly, the MRP, says it’s pursuing dialogue with Jakarta in an effort to stop the proposed formation of a new province in its region. Residents of Papua’s Pegunungan Bintang regency have been opposing to the proposal which is being driven by five local regents. The MRP chairman Agus Alua Alue says Papuans believe there is no benefit to the idea of further splitting their region.

• Australia, Indonesia and the Papuan crises, Richard Chauvel, Austral Policy Forum, Nautilus Institute, 2006-04-27

5. ADF to Fight Iraqi Lawsuit, Michael McKenna, Australian, 2008-02-29

An Iraqi family seriously injured when Diggers opened fire on their car in Baghdad are facing a prolonged legal battle after the ADF yesterday indicated it would fight the demands for compensation. The al-Saadi family has filed a landmark compensation claim in Queensland’s Supreme Court after being taken to Brisbane last year for medical treatment following the 2005 shooting near Australia’s embassy.

• Defence Analyst Criticises Iraqi Family’s Compo Claim, Lindy Kerin, ABC, 2008-02-28

6. Al Qaeda, Afghanistan and the Good War, George Friedman, Stratfor.com, 2008-02-28

It is important to understand what this war consists of: It is a holding action against an enemy that cannot be defeated. It is a holding action waiting for certain knowledge of the status of al Qaeda, knowledge that likely will not come. Afghanistan is a war without exit and a war without victory. It is not a war that can be won or even ended. It just goes on.

• Singaporean Medics to Support Australian and Dutch Troops in Oruzgan, Joel Fitzgibbon, Minister for Defence, Media Release, 2008-03-01

7. Locals Reject Nuclear Project on Mount Muria, Suherdjoko, Jakarta Post, 2008-02-29

Up to 3,000 villagers rallied in Jepara, Central Java to oppose the planned construction of a nuclear power plant on the regency’s Mount Muria. They converged at the National Atomic Energy Agency’s Nuclear Power Station Safety and Research observation facility to form the foundations of a concrete wall. Mufid Busyairi, a legislator of the National Awakening Party (PKB) at the House of Representatives was picked to lay the wall’s corner stone.

8. Nautilus Australia Briefing Books – updated pages

• AFP in Afghanistan, Australia in Afghanistan
• Australian-US Intelligence Relations – Afghanistan and Iraq, Australia in Afghanistan
• Canadian SIGINT and Afghanistan, Australia in Afghanistan

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