1. Navy and Customs Catch Sixty-One Foreign Fishers
2. China and India Leading Asian Missile Build-up
3. Indonesia: More Troops Eyed for Papua by 2014
4. Blackwater Pays Price for Iraqi Firefight
5. US, Britain Differ on Southern Iraq Mission
6. Australia and East Asia: Staking a Claim among Giants
7. Comfort Women Deserve Australian Support
8. Fiddling while the Ice Melts

1. Navy and Customs Catch Sixty-One Foreign Fishers over Weekend, Defence Media Release, 2007-09-18

   Five illegal foreign fishing vessels were brought into Darwin on 16 September 2007 by Armidale Class Patrol Boat (ACPB) HMAS Maitland following an operation coordinated by Border Protection Command, involving Defence, Customs and Australian Fisheries Management Authority officers (AFMA).

   • Border Protection Command, Australia

   • Australian Fisheries Management Authority, Australia

   • Indonesia, Illegal Fishing, Chatham House

2. China and India Leading Asian Missile Build-up, Donald Greenlees, IHT, 2007-09-19

   China and India are leading the most significant modernization of nuclear-capable ballistic missile and cruise missile forces in Asia since the Cold War, according to arms control analysts. The growth is underscoring the impotence of global missile nonproliferation initiatives and heightening the risk of missile and nuclear force competition between major powers.

   • Documents, News, and Analysis, Nuclear Nonproliferation Regimes (NPT, IAEA, etc), Arms Control Association

3. More Troops Eyed for Papua by 2014, Jakarta Post, 2007-09-13,

   The Indonesian Army has proposed a third infantry division for their Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) in Papua. “Ideally, Kostrad must have three divisions” said Army Chief of Staff Gen. Djoko Santoso. Currently, Kostrad has two divisions; the first is in Cilodong, Bogor, south of Jakarta and the second is located in Malang, East Java.

   • Kostrad, Army Strategic Reserve Command, Global Security

4. Blackwater Pays Price for Iraqi Firefight, Daniel Luban, Asia Times, 2007-09-19

   Iraq has pulled the license of prominent private US security firm Blackwater USA, following a firefight that left eight civilians dead. With US$800 million in government contracts, it’s a heavy blow for Blackwater and will further complicate both the legal no-man’s zone of military contractors and US security problems in Iraq.

   • Blackwater USA

   • The Private Security Industry, States, and the Lack of an International Response, Caroline Holmqvist, Harvard University, 2007-03-09 [PDF 450kb]

   • Fiji, the War in Iraq, and the Privatisation of Pacific Island Security, Nic Maclellan, Austral Policy Forum 06-11A, 2006-04-06

5. U.S., Britain Differ on Southern Iraq Mission, Official Says, Thomas E. Ricks and Karen DeYoung, Washington Post, 2007-09-19

   Differences have emerged between the U.S. and British views of how to operate in southern Iraq, with U.S. officials encouraging the British to be more aggressive for as long as they keep troops there, said an American official closely familiar with Iraq policy.

   • Report to Congress on the Situation in Iraq, General David H. Petraeus, US Congress, 2007-09-10 [Primary source, PDF 54kb]

   • Statement of Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker, US Ambassador to the Republic of Iraq, before a Joint Hearing of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Armed Services, US Congress, 2007-09-10 [Primary source, PDF 732kb]

6. Staking a Claim among Giants, Paul Kelly, Australian 2007-09-19

   Facing dynamic changes in east Asia, the new Australian government, led by John Howard or Kevin Rudd, will confront pivotal strategic decisions about Australia’s future. These concern how Australia sees the balance of power in Asia and defines the national interest in regional arrangements being canvassed among the US, China, Japan and India. There should be five guiding stars for Australia in this process.

7. Comfort Women Deserve Australian Support, Tessa Morris-Suzuki, Age, 2007-09-18

   The Senate will vote on a motion urging the Japanese government to apologise and pay compensation to former comfort women – women who suffered institutionalised sexual abuse in Japanese military brothels during the Asia-Pacific War. The resolution calls on Japan to provide education about the history of these events in schools. The Senate should pass this resolution precisely because Australia is a friend of Japan.

8. Fiddling while the Ice Melts, Geoffrey Barker, APO, 2007-09-13

   For millions of people global warming could constitute an existential threat comparable with the Cold War threat of a nuclear exchange between the superpowers. The nuclear threat was well recognised during the Cold War and the superpowers developed successful and complex balances to minimise the risk of nuclear warfare. The existential threat from the disappearance of the Arctic ice cap has yet to galvanise the post-Cold War world to effective action.

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