APSNet 5 March 2009

1. Global Financial Crisis Stalls Billions in Defence Spending
2. 28 Charged Over East Timor Attacks
3. Pakistan’s Militants Ready For More
4. Taliban Rivals Unite to Fight US Troop Surge
5. Going Green Must Involve Going Nuclear
6. Russia to Deliver 18 Infantry Fighting Vehicles to Indonesia

1. Global Financial Crisis Stalls Billions in Defence Spending, Patrick Walters And Mark Dodd, Australian 2009-03-03

The global financial crisis has forced the Defence Department to shelve plans to buy billions of dollars’ of military equipment, including a new $5 billion maritime surveillance system. The economic downturn will also mean the navy will not exercise the option to acquire a fourth air warfare destroyer worth $2 billion, and could force a one-year delay in plans to spend $16 billion on 100 F-35 joint strike fighters.

• Briefing Note: Defence and Security Aspects of the Federal Budget, 2008-09, Richard Tanter, Nautilus Institute, 2009-05-15

2. 28 Charged Over East Timor Attacks, Lindsay Murdoch Age, 2009-03-04

Authorities in Dili have charged 28 people, including Timorese-born Australian Angelita Pires, over last year’s attacks on East Timor’s top two political leaders. Prosecutors say they will ask a Dili court to jail 42-year-old Pires for three years.

• Ramos-Horta Welcomes Assassination Attempt Trials, Mulls Pardon, ABC, 2009-03-05

3. Pakistan’s Militants Ready For More, Syed Saleem Shahzad, Asia Times, 2009-03-05

The emergence of these new zealots is an ominous development for a country already mired in militancy in its border areas. And things could get a lot worse as the Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kiani has returned from a visit to Washington committed to a much more pro-active approach against militants.

• Extremists Push Pakistan to Breaking Point, Daniel Flitton, Age, 2009-03-04
• Pakistan’s Drift Into the Hands of Extremists, Tariq Ali, Guardian, 2009, 03-03

4. Taliban Rivals Unite to Fight US Troop Surge, Saeed Shah, Guardian, 2009-03-03

Three rival Pakistani Taliban groups have agreed to form a united front against international forces in Afghanistan in a move likely to intensify the insurgency just as thousands of extra US soldiers begin pouring into the country as part of Barack Obama’s surge plan.

5. Going Green Must Involve Going Nuclear, Peter Costello, Age, 2009-03-04

Something has to give if we are serious about reducing emissions. When Australia’s environmental movement allows itself to admit this is an option we will know that they are really serious about reducing greenhouse emissions.

6. Russia to Deliver 18 Infantry Fighting Vehicles to Indonesia, Interfax-AVN*, 2009-02-25

Rosoboronexport and Kurganmashzavod are getting ready for the practical implementation of a contract for delivering 18 infantry fighting vehicles BMP-3F to Indonesia. Nikolay Dimidyuk, special director and head of the Rosoboronexport delegation said that the naval-type BMP-3F is ideally suited for the Indonesian armed forces because it can fight both on land and in the sea.
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Richard Tanter,
Project Co-ordinator