1. Australia, Japan Act against Groups with N Korea Links
2. Downer Tips Iran Action
3. Thailand: Howard Deplores Takeover but Military Ties Remain
4. Afghanistan and Iraq: Troop Withdrawal a Mistake, Downer
5. Australia Probes Soldiers’ Iraq Videos
6. East Timor: Evidence Mounts against Gusmão
7. The Killer Catching a Ride with HIV

Austral Policy Forum 06-32A: Whither The Japan-Australia Security Relationship? – Desmond Ball

1. Australia, Japan Act against Groups with N Korea Links, Brendan Nicholson and Deborah Cameron, Age, 2006-09-20

   Australia and Japan have launched financial sanctions against banks and other companies believed to have links to North Korea’s nuclear program. In a special Government Gazette issue, the Reserve Bank named 11 North Korean companies and a Swiss company.

   • Beijing Attacks Curbs on N Korea, Rowan Callick, Australian, 2006-09-21

   • DPRK Information Strategy, Asia Pacific Center for Strategic Studies Conference, Peter Hayes, Nautilus Institute, 2002-10-8-10

      

2. Downer Tips Iran Action, Tony Walker, AFR*, 2006-09-21

   Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has foreshadowed the possibility of Australia’s applying sanctions against Iran outside a UN framework if the Security Council fails to agree on punitive measures against Tehran. The US has floated the possibility of sanctions against Iran if differences in the Security Council preclude a consensus. Mr Downer confirmed that Washington had asked Australia to co-operate.
   Subscription required.

    

3. Howard Deplores Takeover but Military Ties Remain, Craig Skehan, SMH, 2006-09-21

   The Australian Government has condemned the Thai coup but not suspended close military ties or called for Thaksin Shinawatra to continue to be recognised as the country’s prime minister. Eight Australian defence personnel in Thailand as part of a military co-operation program are to remain in the country.

   • Country Profile, Thailand, BBC, 2006-09-20

   • Developments in the Military Coup D’etat, Bangkok Post, 2006-09-21

   • Thailand: All the King’s Men, Shawn W Crispin, Asia Times, 2006-09-21

   • Thailand: a Coup for Democracy? Nick Cumming-Bruce, OpenDemocracy, 2006-09-20

      

4. Troop Withdrawal a Mistake, Downer, AAP, SMH, 2006-09-21

   Foreign Minister Alexander Downer says it would be a catastrophe for the war against terrorism if Australia and her allies were to withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan. Speaking in New York to a gathering of US institutional investors, Mr Downer acknowledged that the missions in Afghanistan and Iraq were controversial.

   • NATO Offensive to Take on Taliban Suicide Bombers, AFP and AP, Australian, 2006-09-20

   • Security Council Extends International Security Assistance Force [ISAF] in Afghanistan until October 2007, Unanimously Adopting Resolution 1707 (2006), UN Security Council media release, 2006-09-12

   • Report of the Secretary-General [on Iraq] Pursuant to Paragraph 30 of Resolution 1546 (2004), UN Secruity Council Report S/2006/706, 2006-09-01 [choose item S/2006/706]

   • Neocon Fantasy, Iraqi Reality, Sidney Blumenthal, Opendemocracy, 2006-09-20

      

5. Australia Probes Soldiers’ Iraq Videos, Rod McGuirk CBS News, 2006-09-17

   Australia’s defense department said Sunday it was investigating a series of videos taken by Australian soldiers in Iraq and posted on a popular Web site, including one showing a soldier pointing a pistol at the head of a man wearing Arab clothing.

   • Australia Probes Soldiers’ Iraq Videos, Lead Item on Open Source Center* (formally Foreign Broadcast Information Service, FBIS), 2006-09-18
     * Restricted Access

6. East Timor: Evidence Mounts against Gusmão, John Martinkus, New Matilda, 2006-09-20

   Former East Timorese police commander, Abilio ‘Mausoko’ Mesquita, who is in jail for his role in the violence, has claimed in a leaked statement that Gusmão himself ordered him to attack the house of the Commander of East Timor’s military, Brigadier Taur Matan Ruak, on 24 and 25 May.

   • East Timor: The President’s Man, John Martinkus, ZNet, 2006-09-09

   • UN Committed to Take More Steps to Strengthen the National Justice System, UNMIT Media Release, Relief Web, 2006-09-19

   • E Timor Police on Duty ‘Next Week’, AFP, News.Com, 2006-09-20

      

7. The Killer Catching a Ride with HIV, Bill Bowtell, SMH, 2006-09-21

   The emergence of extreme drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis in Africa, Eastern Europe, Korea and the US opens an ominous chapter in the evolution of the HIV pandemic. The link between the two also poses a serious threat in our neighbourhood. PNG is in the clutches of an HIV epidemic. In the Solomon Islands, HIV infection will take hold unless radical and effective preventive action is taken.

    

Austral Policy Forum 06-32A: Whither the Japan-Australia Security Relationship? – Desmond Ball

Desmond Ball of the Australian National University reports that

“the security relationship between Australia and Japan has now grown to the extent that, if the range of cooperative activities could be summated, Japan would be in the top five of Australia’s security partners”.

Ball suggests that

“given the increasing likelihood of their common involvement in US-led coalitions, as well as their mutual interest in BMD developments, it becomes increasingly likely that ADF and JSDF elements will serve together in operational situations, including not only combat support activities but also actual combat.”

Ball concludes by noting

“there is an issue as to whether the complexion of the Australia-Japan relationship overall is in danger of becoming too militarised and, indeed, too securitized.”

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