APSNet for 20060720
Austral Peace and Security Network (APSNet)
Bi-weekly report from the Nautilus Institute at RMIT, Australia.
Thursday 20 July 2006
- Australian Defence Force (ADF) Personnel on Way to Beirut
- Townsville Troops Head Home from E Timor
- RAMSI: Solomons Forces Face ‘Growing Hostility’
- Uranium: Howard’s Nuke Challenge to Bush
- Strengthening Australia’s Maritime Security
- Damning Assessment of Tsunami Aid
- Escalating Middle-East Conflicts – The Markets and the Region React
- Briefing Notes: Lebanon-Israel Conflict
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ADF Personnel on Way to Beirut, AAP, Australian, 2006-07-20
More than 80 Australian Defence Force personnel are on their way to Beirut to help evacuate hundreds of nationals hoping to get out of the war-torn nation by ship today. They include logistic experts and will work with Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade staff who are facing increasing demands by Australians trapped in Lebanon to get them out of the country.
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Townsville Troops Head Home from E Timor, ABC, 2006-07-20
The first group of troops is returning from East Timor. The HMAS Kanimbla set sail with about 250 troops and one Black Hawk helicopter on board. Over 2,000 Australian troops and police will remain in Dili, and many are expected to stay until next year. Commander in East Timor, Brigadier Michael Slater, says within two weeks police will take full control of the security patrols in the country.
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Malaysia to Pull Timor Leste Troops, Prensa Latina, 2006-07-19
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Solomons Forces Face ‘Growing Hostility’, AAP, SMH, 2006-07-19
The Australian-led mission in the Solomons has been criticised by locals, who say it is detached from the community and doing little to improve living standards. International aid agency, Oxfam, has released a report based on interviews with 776 men, women, young people, police and government officials in Honiara on the main island of Guadalcanal and in the neighbouring island of Malaita.
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Bridging the Gap between State and Society: New Directions for the Solomon Islands, Nic Maclellan et.al. Oxfam Australia and Oxfam New Zealand, July 2006 [PDF]
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Howard’s Nuke Challenge to Bush, Paul Kelly, Australian, 2006-07-19
John Howard has given his strongest sign he wants a domestic uranium enrichment industry. The Prime Minister’s desire to join the uranium enrichment club risks a conflict with President George W. Bush’s global nuclear energy partnership (GNEP), a radical US initiative to prevent nations moving into enrichment reprocessing.
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Strengthening Australia’s Maritime Security, Brendan Nelson, Media Release Min108/06, 2006-07-17
Operation Resolute will consolidate ADF’s domestic maritime security activities into one operation. Including: Relex II (unauthorised arrivals), Cranberry (illegal fishing, smuggling), Celesta and Mistral (patrols of Australia’s southern ocean), and patrols of Australia’s gas and oil infrastructure. Operation Resolute is commanded by the Joint Offshore Protection Command (JOPC), a joint organisation of Defence and Customs.
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Operation Resolute, Australian Department of Defence [Web site]
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Damning Assessment of Tsunami Aid, Stephanie Kennedy, ABC, 2006-07-20
A report into the international aid given to countries devastated by the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami has revealed a damning assessment of how the aid was delivered and spent. The Tsunami Evaluation Coalition found that the emergency relief to the tsunami victims was not given on a needs basis, but rather in response to political pressures and what aid agencies believed would be popular with the donating public.
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Joint Evaluation of the International Response to the Indian Ocean Tsunami: Synthesis Report, Tsunami Evaluation Coalition, July 2006
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Escalating Middle-East Conflicts – The Markets and the Region React, SIIA, 2006-07-18
The Muslim communities in Southeast Asia, primarily Malaysia and Indonesia, have condemned the Israeli attacks. Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi had written a letter to the permanent members of the UN Security Council. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono declared that “Indonesia officially asks Israel to stop its military aggression immediately”. Concerns were also voiced by many Muslim organisations.
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Israel’s Maximal Option, Juan Cole, Salon.com 2006-07-19
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Briefing Notes: Lebanon-Israel Conflict
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General Background
Middle East Crisis – Lebanon and Israel, BBC News (Updated Regularly)
Lebanon – Country Profile, Sectoral Information, Humanitarian Situation Reports and Updates, ReliefWeb
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Maps
Lebanon Maps, ReliefWeb
Lebanon Maps, GlobalSecurity.org
Major Attacks In Lebanon, Israel and the Gaza Strip, Interactive Map, New York Times (Updated Regularly)
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Politics
2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, Wikipedia
Hizballah / Hizbollah / Hizbullah / Hezbollah – Party of God, GlobalSecurity.org
Palestine, Israel and the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Primer, Middle East Report [Web site]
The Gaza/Lebanon Crisis, Brookings Saban Center Briefing, 2006-07-17
Rosner’s Domain, Guest: Martin Indyk, Ha’aretz, 2006-07-18
Robert Fisk archive, The Independent
Under the Veil of Ideology: The Israeli-Iranian Strategic Rivalry, Trita Parsi, Middle East Report Online, 2006-06-09
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Military
Israel Military Guide, GlobalSecurity.org
Lebanon: Military, GlobalSecurity.org
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Subscriptions
Austral Peace and Security Network is issued late on Mondays and Thursdays (AEST) by the Nautilus Institute at RMIT, Melbourne, Australia.
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