APSNet for 20070219
Austral Peace and Security Network (APSNet)
Twice weekly report from the Nautilus Institute at RMIT, Australia.
Monday 19 February 2007
- Australia’s PM Considers more Military Trainers for Iraq
- Italy: Official Hits U.S. for Afghan Missive
- US Troops Diverted to Afghanistan
- Hand on Heart, Alliance Means Zip
- The Generation Gap: Australia and the Super Hornet
- Indonesia: Bilateral Ties with Partners and Neighbours
- Tonga’s Finance Minister meets Australian and NZ Officials Working with Joint Police Mission
- Philippines Assigns More Troops against Abu Sayyaf
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Australia’s PM Considers more Military Trainers for Iraq, ABC, 2007-02-19
Prime Minister John Howard says there is a case for sending more military trainers to Iraq to help build the skills of the Iraqi security forces. But Mr Howard says the number of combat troops Australia has sent to Iraq is about right, and he does not expect to increase that number.
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Official Hits U.S. for Afghan Missive, John Phillips, Washington Times, 2007-02-07
Foreign Minister Massimo D’Alema yesterday protested an open letter to a Rome newspaper from U.S. Ambassador Ronald P. Spogli and five other envoys urging Italy to maintain its troop deployment in Afghanistan. The letter was also signed by the ambassadors of Australia, Britain, Canada, the Netherlands and Romania. “There are more appropriate bodies in which to discuss Italy’s commitment in Afghanistan” said Mr. D’Alema.
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US Troops Diverted to Afghanistan, BBC, 2007-02-15
The US says that 3,200 troops of the 173rd Airborne Brigade will be deployed to Afghanistan, instead of Iraq. The reinforcements, currently stationed in Italy, will replace troops from the 10th Mountain Division Brigade who are due to leave Afghanistan in May. US troop levels in Afghanistan will stay at 27,000, the highest since the invasion of 2001.
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Testimony on Assessment of Security and Stability in Afghanistan and Developments in U.S. Strategy and Operations, Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry, USA, Deputy Chairman, NATO Military Committee, House Armed Services Committee, 2007-02-13 [PDF]
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Testimony on Assessment of Security and Stability in Afghanistan and Developments in U.S. Strategy and Operations, Ms. Mary Beth Long, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, Department of Defense, House Armed Services Committee, 2007-02-13 [PDF]
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Hand on Heart, Alliance Means Zip, Brian Toohey, AFR*, 2007-02-17
US ambassador Robert McCallum told the National Press Club on Wednesday he hadn’t read the ANZUS Treaty. Rightly so. No one takes a blind bit of notice of what a piece of paper signed in 1951 has to say anymore. It’s a document from a postwar era when the world agreed military aggression was a bad thing.
* Subscription required.-
Security Treaty Between Australia, New Zealand and the USA [ANZUS], Department of External Affairs, Canberra (San Francisco, 1 September 1951), Australian Government Publishing Service Canberra [Primary Source, PDF]
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The Generation Gap: Australia and the Super Hornet, Andrew Davies, ASPI, 2007-02-13
This paper takes a critical look at Australia’s future combat aircraft plans and questions the wisdom of a rushed acquisition of the Super Hornet.
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F/A-18E/F “Super Hornet” Deployment, Global Security
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F-22 Raptor, Global Security
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F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Lightning II, Global Security
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Indonesia: Bilateral Ties with Partners and Neighbours – Being Wooed by Some and Working Hard on Some, SIIA, 2006-02-15
Indonesia is in the mood to strengthen its bilateral relations with US and Japan, rekindle talks with Myanmar while straightening out facts over the sand ban that is believed to be related to extradition treaty with Singapore.
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Myanmar, RI Begin Talks on Bilateral Cooperation, Abdul Khalik, Jakarta Post, 2007-02-15
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Tonga’s Finance Minister meets Australian and NZ Officials Working with Joint Police Mission, RNZI, 2007-02-18
The Joint Police Mission is in the country to gain a strategic overview of the functions and responsibilities of the Tonga Police Force. The Mission also wants to gain a strategic overview of the operating environment. The move will help to identify the extent and form of a coordinated programme of assistance from Australia and New Zealand.
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Tongan Govt. Supports Review of Police Force, TongaNow, 2007-02-07
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Philippines Assigns More Troops against Abu Sayyaf, MXinhua, 2007-02-15
The Philippine military has sent more troops to southern island of Sulu to help in the ongoing campaign aimed at defeating the Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf Group. A Marine battalion and a Scout Ranger test mission class recently arrived Sulu to augment more than 7,500 soldiers presently involved in the operation, said Armed Forces chief Hermogenes Esperon Jr.
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Unconventional Warfare: Are US Special Forces Engaged in an ‘Offensive War’ in the Philippines?, Focus on the Philippines Special Reports, No. 1, January 2006
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