Before you read the following expose by The Australian's John Lyons - Labor Friend of Israel a lobbyist for weapons firm (16/3/16) - keep in mind that Israel's arms manufacturing Elbit Systems 'won' a $349m contract with the Australian Defence Forces (ADF) to develop a command, control and communications system for the Australian army in 2010 (See my 17/3/10 post Passports: Finally, Some Action) and is linked to Israel's illegal (ICJ 2004 ruling) West Bank apartheid wall* (See my 26/10/11 post Sucked in at Sydney University):
"A key figure behind a Labor Party friends-of-Israel group is also a lobbyist for the Australian subsidiary of one of Israel's largest arms manufacturers. Mary Easson has also played an active role in the emotive debate within the Labor Party over its policy towards Israel. Ms Easson is one of five members of the NSW branch of the Australia Israel Labor Dialogue. At the same time, she is a lobbyist for Elbit, according to her latest listing on the federal registrar.
"The fact that Ms Easson's company, Probity International Pty Ltd, is lobbying for Elbit is almost certain to lead to anger within the ALP from those who have taken trips organised by the AILD. Ms Easson has been locked in a brutal fight inside the Labor Party with former minister Bob Carr over policy towards Israel. Ms Easson wants the ALP to retain its bipartisan support for Israel while Mr Carr wants a deadline for Israel to cease its expansion of settlements in the West Bank and to return to negotiations with the Palestinians.
"Elbit is one of Israel's largest manufacturers of bombs, mortars, cyber warfare systems and drones and much of its ordnance was used in the 2014 war with Gaza. On its website, Elbit says one of its products - the Soltam Spear - has 'unprecedented lethality.' The patron of the NSW branch of the AILD, former Queensland premier Peter Beattie, said he was unaware of Ms Easson's connection to Elbit. 'I am very comfortable saying if there is any contribution made in NSW and that is made available for trips to Israel, that information should be publicly available.' Since it was formed in 2010, the AILD has sent 33 union and Labor Party officials to Israel. Ms Easson told The Australian most of those had been sent by the Victorian branch and she did not know of any being sent by the NSW branch.
"NSW convener Greg Holland said he took a group of unionists in 2014, which included now NSW ALP secretary Kaila Murnain and the Labor candidate for the federal seat of Perth, Tim Hammond.
Yesterday, Ms Murnain would not answer any questions related to her trip and Mr Hammond said he was conscious these trips were 'highly sensitive' and would make no comment.
"When asked whether her role as a lobbyist for Elbit presented a conflict of interest when being part of a Labor Party group, Ms Easson at first said she worked for Elbit Australia, not the parent company. Later she said: 'I am employed by Intech Strategies and Intech Strategies is employed by Elbit Australia.' Ms Easson said she did not know who funded the trips for unionists. 'I'm not being coy, I really don't know the answer,' she said. 'How they get their funds I don't know - I guess I should have asked.'
"She said she joined the NSW branch of the AILD twelve months ago when it formed and it had not raised any funds or sent anybody on overseas trips. No one associated with the AILD contacted by The Australian was prepared or able to say who funded the trips. She said Elbit Systems of Australia managing directer Dan Webster had yesterday assured her no donation had been made from Elbit to the AILD. In October last year, three key NSW Labor officials went on an AILD trip - the secretary of the NSW branch of the Rail Tram and Bus Union, Alex Claasens, the secretary of the NSW Police Association, Peter Remfrey, and the Transport Workers Union's Polo Guilbert-Wright. Mr Claasens said he was approached by the Victorian branch and did not know of the Elbit connection when he went. 'The question for the people who run the organisation and the individual concerned is should it be put out there for people to see? Mr Claasens said.
"One of the key figures in the AILD, ACTU assistant secretary, Michael Borowick, would not give any specifics about who funded the AILD trips. 'Many individuals pay for their participation in the trips. AILD does respond favourably to individuals who make requests for a subsidy where it is available to do so,' he said. When asked who funded the AILD he said: 'AILD employs a variety of funding methods to support its activities.'
"Ms Easson has written in support of the current ALP policy - she was not a delegate but wrote a live blog from the NSW Labor conference in February. When the conference rejected motions she opposed, she wrote that 'the moment the fanatical anti-Israel forces were stopped and stood up to by sensible people in NSW Labor.' Several motions called for the banning of products made in Israeli settlements in the West Bank and mandating that all Labor MPs who visited Israel on paid trips should spend equal time on the Palestinian side. The conference accepted a motion that 'encouraged' party members to spend 'substantial time in both Israel and Palestine.'
"Mr Holland did not think the AILD should have to reveal who funded trips. Asked if unionists who had been on these trips should have been told of Ms Easson's connection to Elbit, he said: 'That's up to Mary to do.' Asked about the possible conflict between the AILD, whose stated aim was a peaceful solution, and an arms manufacturer, Mr Holland said: 'I'm not sure what they (Elbit) do and how they do it. They might have peaceful solutions to conflicts.' He had the utmost confidence in Ms Easson and her probity.
"Federal Labor MP Melissa Parke - who has not taken one of the trips - said: 'Given the significant numbers of ALP members who are apparently being taken on these trips to Israel, it is a concern to know who is providing the funds, particularly where there is a person associated with an Israeli weapons manufacturer on the AILD committee. The Israel-Palestine conflict is a matter of ongoing and sometimes heated debate within the ALP. The best antidote to distrust and suspicion is full disclosure and full transparency'."
[* This puts Mary Easson's 2007 comment on the wall in a whole new light: "A wall in principle sounds like a terrible thing, but you go and see it and you think, 'Oh well, yeah, I can see why you would need that." See my 19/6/12 post A Family Affair.]
Showing posts with label ADF. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ADF. Show all posts
Friday, March 18, 2016
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
Aussies Do It Better...
"In Camp Taji in Iraq regimental sergeant majors are commonly known for shouting and putting the fear of God into young soldiers." (Slow but steady progress as diggers prepare Iraqi troops, David Rowe,* Sydney Morning Herald, 19/1/16)
Ah, but not our warm & fuzzy Warrant Officer Class One Mark Retallick:
"When one soldier puts five rounds from his newly-issued M-16 into the bullseye... Warrant Officer Retallick grabs him in a bear hug. 'We'll be calling you Carlos Hathcock,' he says, referring to the legendary US Marine sniper of the Vietnam War."
Heart-warming, eh? But why didn't Wroe report the Iraqi soldier's response? Like, for example:
'Cool, man, ever since ah was a kid ah used to dream about being Carlos Hathcock! Shreddin' Gooks in 'Nam, HOT DAMN!'
See how culturally sensitive WO Retallick is?
I mean, he could've said:
'We'll be calling you Chris Kyle'** (referring to the legendary US Navy SEAL sniper of the Iraq war who killed 255 Iraqis).
Aussies do it better, eh?
[*Rambammed: 2014; **American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in US Military History (2012)]
Ah, but not our warm & fuzzy Warrant Officer Class One Mark Retallick:
"When one soldier puts five rounds from his newly-issued M-16 into the bullseye... Warrant Officer Retallick grabs him in a bear hug. 'We'll be calling you Carlos Hathcock,' he says, referring to the legendary US Marine sniper of the Vietnam War."
Heart-warming, eh? But why didn't Wroe report the Iraqi soldier's response? Like, for example:
'Cool, man, ever since ah was a kid ah used to dream about being Carlos Hathcock! Shreddin' Gooks in 'Nam, HOT DAMN!'
See how culturally sensitive WO Retallick is?
I mean, he could've said:
'We'll be calling you Chris Kyle'** (referring to the legendary US Navy SEAL sniper of the Iraq war who killed 255 Iraqis).
Aussies do it better, eh?
[*Rambammed: 2014; **American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in US Military History (2012)]
Friday, September 18, 2015
Shit Happens
Andrew (Blazing Barrels) Hastie, desperately seeking the West Australian seat of Canning for the Libs in tomorrow's by-election, said in today's Australian:
"The biggest thing that was missing for 6 years under Labor was serious intellectual engagement with soldiers on the ground about how to best prosecute the war in Afghanistan." ('Labor MPs put Diggers at risk', Andrew Burrell, 18/9/15)
But what does former SAS captain Hastie mean by serious intellectual engagement?
Something along the lines of Tony Abbott's sage observation, in Tarin Kowt in 2011, to US commander James Creighton on the death of Australian soldier, Lance Corporal MacKinney?
Just to jog your memory:
"It's pretty obvious that, well, sometimes shit happens, doesn't it?"
Now top that, if you can, for serious intellectual engagement!
Here's an idea: seeing Andrew's big on serious intellectual engagement, if, perish the thought, Canning voters do the dirty on him in tomorrow's by-election, what better valedictory than 'Well, sometimes shit happens, doesn't it?' could he possibly come up with?
"The biggest thing that was missing for 6 years under Labor was serious intellectual engagement with soldiers on the ground about how to best prosecute the war in Afghanistan." ('Labor MPs put Diggers at risk', Andrew Burrell, 18/9/15)
But what does former SAS captain Hastie mean by serious intellectual engagement?
Something along the lines of Tony Abbott's sage observation, in Tarin Kowt in 2011, to US commander James Creighton on the death of Australian soldier, Lance Corporal MacKinney?
Just to jog your memory:
"It's pretty obvious that, well, sometimes shit happens, doesn't it?"
Now top that, if you can, for serious intellectual engagement!
Here's an idea: seeing Andrew's big on serious intellectual engagement, if, perish the thought, Canning voters do the dirty on him in tomorrow's by-election, what better valedictory than 'Well, sometimes shit happens, doesn't it?' could he possibly come up with?
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Popping Popeye
Next time you see an Australian politician on TV strutting his stuff in front of an Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce backdrop, think of Popeye:
"Australia is quietly exporting dozens of missiles to other countries to try to recoup some of the $200 million it has wasted on them in botched military purchases*... The deals have been conducted without publicity... because they are an embarrassing reminder of failed defence projects that have cost taxpayers more than $1.4 billion... Defence has also sold two of its Israeli-built, air-to-surface, Popeye AGM-142 missiles to South Korea... the remainder were disposed of by 'explosive demolition'." (Missiles go cheap: defence's fire sale, Cameron Stewart, The Australian, 11/11/14)
But where the Defence Department is concerned, Popeye's not all that's getting popped:
"Sensitive Department of Defence documents are being regularly destroyed by defence bureaucrats, with erased files including abuse scandals at Duntroon, 'chemical and biological warfare', and 'treatment of Indonesians captured in Malaysia (in 1964-65)'... Fairfax Media can reveal only about 0.3% of surviving Defence records for 1957 to 1987 are listed on the National Archives' electronic database, and even fewer are publicly 'open', effectively shielding the vast bulk of files from public scrutiny." (Defence records being destroyed & kept secret, Greg Pemberton, Sydney Morning Herald, 8/11/14)
[*"In the late 1990s, the RAAF purchased the AGM-142 Popeye missiles from Rafael Advanced Defense systems for use on the F-111 bombers. Due to integration problems, their use was delayed until 2006, just 4 years prior to the bombers end of service." (Wrist-slapping unlikely to halt Israeli military sales to Australia, Henry Lebovic, onlineopinion.com.au, 19/12/12)]
"Australia is quietly exporting dozens of missiles to other countries to try to recoup some of the $200 million it has wasted on them in botched military purchases*... The deals have been conducted without publicity... because they are an embarrassing reminder of failed defence projects that have cost taxpayers more than $1.4 billion... Defence has also sold two of its Israeli-built, air-to-surface, Popeye AGM-142 missiles to South Korea... the remainder were disposed of by 'explosive demolition'." (Missiles go cheap: defence's fire sale, Cameron Stewart, The Australian, 11/11/14)
But where the Defence Department is concerned, Popeye's not all that's getting popped:
"Sensitive Department of Defence documents are being regularly destroyed by defence bureaucrats, with erased files including abuse scandals at Duntroon, 'chemical and biological warfare', and 'treatment of Indonesians captured in Malaysia (in 1964-65)'... Fairfax Media can reveal only about 0.3% of surviving Defence records for 1957 to 1987 are listed on the National Archives' electronic database, and even fewer are publicly 'open', effectively shielding the vast bulk of files from public scrutiny." (Defence records being destroyed & kept secret, Greg Pemberton, Sydney Morning Herald, 8/11/14)
[*"In the late 1990s, the RAAF purchased the AGM-142 Popeye missiles from Rafael Advanced Defense systems for use on the F-111 bombers. Due to integration problems, their use was delayed until 2006, just 4 years prior to the bombers end of service." (Wrist-slapping unlikely to halt Israeli military sales to Australia, Henry Lebovic, onlineopinion.com.au, 19/12/12)]
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Anzackery
God help us. As if bushfires weren't bad enough, Australia is about to be engulfed by a tsunami of militarism and faux patriotism. No one, and no expense, will be spared. Resistance, as they say, is futile. So gird your loins for wall-to-wall jaw-jaw about war-war.
The following extracts, which focus mainly on the funding angle, are from Paul Daley's timely essay in the The Guardian, Australia spares no expense as the Anzac legend nears its century (15/10/13):
"Australia's reverence for all things Anzac has for decades now been quarantined from the fierce political and cultural battles that have flared over other aspects of Australian history. So perhaps it is not surprising that even after the recent change of federal government, Australia's 'Anzackery' - as some dissenting historians now refer to the obsession with Anzac myth and legend - continues with unwavering bipartisan political indulgence.
"Consistent with such bipartisanship, the Abbott government is honouring - and even slightly increasing - Labor's $140m-plus funding commitment to Australia's first world war centenary commemorations in 2014. Before the coming federal budget, spending on Anzac commemorations is one thing, it seems, with guaranteed immunity from the threat of across-the-board cuts to other cultural programs in a range of portfolios. The $140m-plus in federal funding for the first world war centenary will be supplemented by the Anzac centenary public fund, which aims to collect corporate donations.
***
"Ken Inglis, the author of Sacred Places: War Memorials in the Australian Landscape, pointed out Anzac had become a 'secular religion' for Australians. Maybe this is why the Anzac Centenary Advisory Board, now overseeing commemoration planning, strikes such an ecclesiastic tone to explain its determination 'to ensure that the Anzac centenary is marked in a way that captures the spirit and reverence it so deserves and that the baton of remembrance is passed on to this and future generations.'
"Some Australian spending ($32m to upgrade the first world war galleries at the Australian War Memorial) mirrors that in the UK... but a fundamental of Australia's commemoration is the $100,000 that Labor granted to each of the 150 federal electorates for community commemoration projects.
"A spokesman for Senator Michael Ronaldson, who holds the newly-created portfolio of minister assisting the prime minister for the centenary of Anzac, confirmed that, consistent with its election pledge, the Coalition will increase that amount by $25,000 per electorate 'to support grassroots commemorative activities to ensure that all Australians, no matter where they live, can participate in this important period of national commemoration.'
"The spokesman confirmed the Abbott government will meet all of Labor's centenary spending and programme commitments... The auditors may sigh at how the $18.75m on electorate-by-electorate spending will be reconciled... Australia's centenary spending will include: $8.1m on restoring memorials and graves; $6.1m on an Anzac interpretive centre; $3.4m on an Anzac community portal to share Anzac stories; $4.7m on an Anzac arts and culture fund; $14.4m on overseas commemoration services; $2.8m on a televised re-enactment of the first troop ships to sail from Albany in Western Australia; $10m on an Anzac centenary travelling exhibition and $10.4m to support the work of the Anzac centenary advisory board.
"It's an awful lot of money."
The following extracts, which focus mainly on the funding angle, are from Paul Daley's timely essay in the The Guardian, Australia spares no expense as the Anzac legend nears its century (15/10/13):
"Australia's reverence for all things Anzac has for decades now been quarantined from the fierce political and cultural battles that have flared over other aspects of Australian history. So perhaps it is not surprising that even after the recent change of federal government, Australia's 'Anzackery' - as some dissenting historians now refer to the obsession with Anzac myth and legend - continues with unwavering bipartisan political indulgence.
"Consistent with such bipartisanship, the Abbott government is honouring - and even slightly increasing - Labor's $140m-plus funding commitment to Australia's first world war centenary commemorations in 2014. Before the coming federal budget, spending on Anzac commemorations is one thing, it seems, with guaranteed immunity from the threat of across-the-board cuts to other cultural programs in a range of portfolios. The $140m-plus in federal funding for the first world war centenary will be supplemented by the Anzac centenary public fund, which aims to collect corporate donations.
***
"Ken Inglis, the author of Sacred Places: War Memorials in the Australian Landscape, pointed out Anzac had become a 'secular religion' for Australians. Maybe this is why the Anzac Centenary Advisory Board, now overseeing commemoration planning, strikes such an ecclesiastic tone to explain its determination 'to ensure that the Anzac centenary is marked in a way that captures the spirit and reverence it so deserves and that the baton of remembrance is passed on to this and future generations.'
"Some Australian spending ($32m to upgrade the first world war galleries at the Australian War Memorial) mirrors that in the UK... but a fundamental of Australia's commemoration is the $100,000 that Labor granted to each of the 150 federal electorates for community commemoration projects.
"A spokesman for Senator Michael Ronaldson, who holds the newly-created portfolio of minister assisting the prime minister for the centenary of Anzac, confirmed that, consistent with its election pledge, the Coalition will increase that amount by $25,000 per electorate 'to support grassroots commemorative activities to ensure that all Australians, no matter where they live, can participate in this important period of national commemoration.'
"The spokesman confirmed the Abbott government will meet all of Labor's centenary spending and programme commitments... The auditors may sigh at how the $18.75m on electorate-by-electorate spending will be reconciled... Australia's centenary spending will include: $8.1m on restoring memorials and graves; $6.1m on an Anzac interpretive centre; $3.4m on an Anzac community portal to share Anzac stories; $4.7m on an Anzac arts and culture fund; $14.4m on overseas commemoration services; $2.8m on a televised re-enactment of the first troop ships to sail from Albany in Western Australia; $10m on an Anzac centenary travelling exhibition and $10.4m to support the work of the Anzac centenary advisory board.
"It's an awful lot of money."
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Abbott's Backyard: From Islamabad to Beirut
Check out the reach, justification for, and cost of Australia's military madness to come:
"Australia's new Defence Minister David Johnston* says he wants the military to be battle-ready for future conflicts in the unstable Middle East and south Asia, even including the possibility of fresh trouble in Afghanistan. Senator Johnston said that after 14 years of involvement in overseas conflicts from East Timor to Afghanistan, the Australian Defence Force had a strong fighting momentum that should not be lost. In an interview with Fairfax Media, he said he planned to maintain and 'augment our readiness' for future fights, which would most likely be in the unstable region stretching from Pakistan to the Middle East. 'It will be Pakistan across to Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Afghanistan,' he said. 'That's the area where there'll be instability and that's the area that we might need to go back into at some point in the future. I can't forsee that right now, but... if you were to look at where the next area of instability is likely to be - and we're seeing it unfolding in Syria today - a contribution from Australia is most likely to be in that part of the world in the future... I think Pakistan is also highly problematic.' The West Australian senator... said he did not see Australians fighting in Syria... 'Operationally, we're starting to come down [in Afghanistan] so we've got to maintain some interest for the troops. They've got to keep training, got to keep a level of readiness'... The Coalition has vowed to boost defence spending by about $35 billion over the next 10 years..." (War footing: Mideast the next hotspot, David Wroe, Sydney Morning Herald, 21/9/13)
[*Rambammed: 2008]
"Australia's new Defence Minister David Johnston* says he wants the military to be battle-ready for future conflicts in the unstable Middle East and south Asia, even including the possibility of fresh trouble in Afghanistan. Senator Johnston said that after 14 years of involvement in overseas conflicts from East Timor to Afghanistan, the Australian Defence Force had a strong fighting momentum that should not be lost. In an interview with Fairfax Media, he said he planned to maintain and 'augment our readiness' for future fights, which would most likely be in the unstable region stretching from Pakistan to the Middle East. 'It will be Pakistan across to Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Afghanistan,' he said. 'That's the area where there'll be instability and that's the area that we might need to go back into at some point in the future. I can't forsee that right now, but... if you were to look at where the next area of instability is likely to be - and we're seeing it unfolding in Syria today - a contribution from Australia is most likely to be in that part of the world in the future... I think Pakistan is also highly problematic.' The West Australian senator... said he did not see Australians fighting in Syria... 'Operationally, we're starting to come down [in Afghanistan] so we've got to maintain some interest for the troops. They've got to keep training, got to keep a level of readiness'... The Coalition has vowed to boost defence spending by about $35 billion over the next 10 years..." (War footing: Mideast the next hotspot, David Wroe, Sydney Morning Herald, 21/9/13)
[*Rambammed: 2008]
Monday, November 5, 2012
Little Aussie Digger
Not even The Chaser guys could have dreamt this one up.
The following advertisement, complete with photograph, appeared in the October 28-November 3 The Sunday Telegraph TV Guide:
Celebrating a proud Australian tradition, it's the...
LITTLE AUSSIE DIGGER
By Master Doll Artist Bonnie Chyle
Supersoft RealTouch vinyl skin
Hand-painted to perfection
This little man knows exactly what he wants to be when he grows up: a soldier in the army just like his dad and granddad before him. It's a proud family tradition and he's ready to do his bit. At the salute, meet the 'Little Aussie Digger' - available only from The Bradford Exchange.
Created by Master Doll Artist Bonnie Chyle, every aspect have been lovingly crafted by hand to reflect each tiny feature of a real baby. Our So Truly Real RealTouch vinyl skin is super-soft to the touch, while hand-applied hair and eyelashes and hand-painted fingers and toes bring 'Little Aussie Digger' to life.
He's dressed for action in camouflage fatigues and boots. He sports his very own slouch hat, an enduring symbol of the Australian Army which his Dad wears with pride. He even has his own dog tags inscribed with a slouch hat and a loving message, 'My Little Aussie Digger', from his Sergeant Major, (well, his Mum, anyway!).
Fall in and reserve your doll now!
Don't miss your chance to welcome this adorable new recruit into your home and heart. He's available only from The Bradford Exchange, for a limited time. Reserve your doll now for the value price of just $199.95, payable in five instalments of just $39.99, plus $19.95 postage and handling. Your satisfaction is assured with our world-famous 365-day money back guarantee. Send no money now. Just complete and mail the coupon today.
The following advertisement, complete with photograph, appeared in the October 28-November 3 The Sunday Telegraph TV Guide:
Celebrating a proud Australian tradition, it's the...
LITTLE AUSSIE DIGGER
By Master Doll Artist Bonnie Chyle
Supersoft RealTouch vinyl skin
Hand-painted to perfection
This little man knows exactly what he wants to be when he grows up: a soldier in the army just like his dad and granddad before him. It's a proud family tradition and he's ready to do his bit. At the salute, meet the 'Little Aussie Digger' - available only from The Bradford Exchange.
Created by Master Doll Artist Bonnie Chyle, every aspect have been lovingly crafted by hand to reflect each tiny feature of a real baby. Our So Truly Real RealTouch vinyl skin is super-soft to the touch, while hand-applied hair and eyelashes and hand-painted fingers and toes bring 'Little Aussie Digger' to life.
He's dressed for action in camouflage fatigues and boots. He sports his very own slouch hat, an enduring symbol of the Australian Army which his Dad wears with pride. He even has his own dog tags inscribed with a slouch hat and a loving message, 'My Little Aussie Digger', from his Sergeant Major, (well, his Mum, anyway!).
Fall in and reserve your doll now!
Don't miss your chance to welcome this adorable new recruit into your home and heart. He's available only from The Bradford Exchange, for a limited time. Reserve your doll now for the value price of just $199.95, payable in five instalments of just $39.99, plus $19.95 postage and handling. Your satisfaction is assured with our world-famous 365-day money back guarantee. Send no money now. Just complete and mail the coupon today.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
In Whose Interest?
Pure coincidence, but it's interesting how the following news should come on the heels of my last post:
"A secret squadron of Australian SAS soldiers has been operating at large in Africa, performing work normally done by spies, in an unannounced and possibly dangerous expansion of Australia's foreign military engagement... The Herald has confirmed that troopers from the [SAS 4] squadron have mounted dozens of secret operations during the past year in various African nations, including Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Kenya. They have been out of uniform and not accompanied by Australian Secret Intelligence Service [ASIS] officers with whom undercover SAS forces are conventionally deployed. It is believed the missions have involved gathering intelligence on terrorism and scoping rescue strategies for Australian civilians trapped by kidnapping or civil war. But the operations have raised serious concerns within the Australian military and intelligence community because they involve countries where Australia is not at war... Despite the dangers, the then foreign affairs minister Kevin Rudd last year asked for troopers from 4 Squadron to be used in Libya during the conflict. His plan was thwarted by opposition from the Defence Minister, Stephen Smith, and the Chief of the Australian Defence Force, General David Hurley." (Secret SAS teams hunt for terrorists, Rafael Epstein & Dylan Welch, Sydney Morning Herald, 13/3/12)
But really this should come as no surprise:
"Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has phoned Prime Minister John Howard to thank him for the role played by Australian special forces sent deep into Iraq to destroy missile sites aimed at Israel. While little detail has emerged about the activities of the SAS in the second Gulf War, indications are that its soldiers went in to knock out missiles aimed at Israel and at Arab countries helping the coalition cause. A major concern of coalition planners was that the hawkish Israeli Government would launch its own attacks on Iraq if Iraqi missiles landed on its territory - particularly if they were loaded with chemical or biological weapons... The US is understood to have assured Israel that it would be in a position to deal with any such threat before hostilities started.
"Israel's ambassador to Australia, Gabi Levy, told The Sunday Age that Mr Sharon rang Mr Howard a week ago to convey his appreciation for the part Australia played. That followed a March 25 call from Israel's foreign minister, Silvan Shalom, to his Australian counterpart, Alexander Downer, in which he passed on the appreciation and gratitude of Israelis for the job the SAS soldiers did in western Iraq. Mr Levy said Mr Downer briefed Mr Shalom on the coalition forces' activities in western Iraq and said that their aim was to prevent Scud missile attacks on Israel. Mr Downer said a high priority was given to that goal. It seems likely that the SAS moved into Iraq at least 2 days before the 'official' war started on March 20 with a cruise missile bombardment of Baghdad intended to kill the Iraqi leadership... Mr Levy said he knew nothing of speculation from the US that Australian and Israeli special forces operated together in western Iraq. On March 29, New York's Daily News reported that Israel was engaged behind the scenes providing satellite intelligence to supplement that of the US. It said Israeli agents in Baghdad had provided sensitive information to the US and its Sayeret Matkal commandos were operating in the desert in western Iraq with American and Australian special forces." (Sharon thanks PM for help, Brendan Nicholson, The Age, 13/4/03)
The question arises: Are we off on a frolic all our own, or are we just gormlessly tagging along with our USraeli mates again?
After all, the Israelis recently concluded a deal with Kenya, declaring that "Kenya's enemies are Israel's enemies" (Israel increase in support for Kenya's al-Shabaab battle draws fresh threats, Mike Pflanz, telegraph.co.uk, 15/11/11).
Ditto for Nigeria. In the words of Israel's ambassador to that country: "Our hands are always open to our friends and partners. Nigeria is one of them. Efforts are on the way over this, we cannot say more than that now. It falls under a bi-lateral arrangement and relationship" (Israel joins Nigeria to fight Boko Haram, Konye Obaji Ori, theafricareport.com, 8/3/12).
Further, hadn't Haaretz' security expert, Yossi Melman, declared on our own Radio National in 2010:
"A third role [of Mossad] was to maintain secret, clandestine but very vital and useful contacts with its counterparts, whether it's... ASIO or... the CIA or... MI6. And they have developed over the years, very, very intimate relations, sharing information and... assessments and even, nowadays, going into the field, enjoying the operations in the war against global terrorism"* (The Mossad, Rear Vision, 24/3/10).
Watch this space.
[*See my 29/5/10 post All the Way with Mossad.]
"A secret squadron of Australian SAS soldiers has been operating at large in Africa, performing work normally done by spies, in an unannounced and possibly dangerous expansion of Australia's foreign military engagement... The Herald has confirmed that troopers from the [SAS 4] squadron have mounted dozens of secret operations during the past year in various African nations, including Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Kenya. They have been out of uniform and not accompanied by Australian Secret Intelligence Service [ASIS] officers with whom undercover SAS forces are conventionally deployed. It is believed the missions have involved gathering intelligence on terrorism and scoping rescue strategies for Australian civilians trapped by kidnapping or civil war. But the operations have raised serious concerns within the Australian military and intelligence community because they involve countries where Australia is not at war... Despite the dangers, the then foreign affairs minister Kevin Rudd last year asked for troopers from 4 Squadron to be used in Libya during the conflict. His plan was thwarted by opposition from the Defence Minister, Stephen Smith, and the Chief of the Australian Defence Force, General David Hurley." (Secret SAS teams hunt for terrorists, Rafael Epstein & Dylan Welch, Sydney Morning Herald, 13/3/12)
But really this should come as no surprise:
"Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has phoned Prime Minister John Howard to thank him for the role played by Australian special forces sent deep into Iraq to destroy missile sites aimed at Israel. While little detail has emerged about the activities of the SAS in the second Gulf War, indications are that its soldiers went in to knock out missiles aimed at Israel and at Arab countries helping the coalition cause. A major concern of coalition planners was that the hawkish Israeli Government would launch its own attacks on Iraq if Iraqi missiles landed on its territory - particularly if they were loaded with chemical or biological weapons... The US is understood to have assured Israel that it would be in a position to deal with any such threat before hostilities started.
"Israel's ambassador to Australia, Gabi Levy, told The Sunday Age that Mr Sharon rang Mr Howard a week ago to convey his appreciation for the part Australia played. That followed a March 25 call from Israel's foreign minister, Silvan Shalom, to his Australian counterpart, Alexander Downer, in which he passed on the appreciation and gratitude of Israelis for the job the SAS soldiers did in western Iraq. Mr Levy said Mr Downer briefed Mr Shalom on the coalition forces' activities in western Iraq and said that their aim was to prevent Scud missile attacks on Israel. Mr Downer said a high priority was given to that goal. It seems likely that the SAS moved into Iraq at least 2 days before the 'official' war started on March 20 with a cruise missile bombardment of Baghdad intended to kill the Iraqi leadership... Mr Levy said he knew nothing of speculation from the US that Australian and Israeli special forces operated together in western Iraq. On March 29, New York's Daily News reported that Israel was engaged behind the scenes providing satellite intelligence to supplement that of the US. It said Israeli agents in Baghdad had provided sensitive information to the US and its Sayeret Matkal commandos were operating in the desert in western Iraq with American and Australian special forces." (Sharon thanks PM for help, Brendan Nicholson, The Age, 13/4/03)
The question arises: Are we off on a frolic all our own, or are we just gormlessly tagging along with our USraeli mates again?
After all, the Israelis recently concluded a deal with Kenya, declaring that "Kenya's enemies are Israel's enemies" (Israel increase in support for Kenya's al-Shabaab battle draws fresh threats, Mike Pflanz, telegraph.co.uk, 15/11/11).
Ditto for Nigeria. In the words of Israel's ambassador to that country: "Our hands are always open to our friends and partners. Nigeria is one of them. Efforts are on the way over this, we cannot say more than that now. It falls under a bi-lateral arrangement and relationship" (Israel joins Nigeria to fight Boko Haram, Konye Obaji Ori, theafricareport.com, 8/3/12).
Further, hadn't Haaretz' security expert, Yossi Melman, declared on our own Radio National in 2010:
"A third role [of Mossad] was to maintain secret, clandestine but very vital and useful contacts with its counterparts, whether it's... ASIO or... the CIA or... MI6. And they have developed over the years, very, very intimate relations, sharing information and... assessments and even, nowadays, going into the field, enjoying the operations in the war against global terrorism"* (The Mossad, Rear Vision, 24/3/10).
Watch this space.
[*See my 29/5/10 post All the Way with Mossad.]
Monday, November 14, 2011
Can't Quite Get My Head Around This One
On the one hand:
"Female cadets at the Australian Defence Force Academy are subjected to widespread, low-level sexual harassment, a comprehensive investigation of attitudes towards women at the ADF's officer training establishment has found. Sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick said she also heard confidential testimony describing how some senior cadets held competitions to score a 'trifecta' - sex with a first-year cadet from each of the 3 services... The low-level sexual harassment consisted mainly of jokes and stories, unwelcome questioning and discussion among cadets about sexual activity... The survey found 74.1% of females and 30.3% of males reported unacceptable gender-related or sex-related harassment. That included whistling, sexist and offensive remarks, put-downs and unwanted attempts to establish a sexual relationship. And 2.1% of women and 0.2% of men reported being forced to have sex without consent while 4.3% of women and 1.9% of men reported being treated badly for refusing to have sex." (Defence academy women 'targeted', Brendan Nicholson & Mark Dodd, The Australian, 4/11/11)
On the other:
"Across our nation today [11/11/11] we will pause to commemorate a great war that began before most of us were alive and ended with the deaths of 60,000 Australian soldiers. Our leaders will make speeches echoing honour and sacrifice, school captains will lay wreaths, and trumpeted reveilles will puncture a minute's silence. But what is the point of all this national emotional investment in commemoration?
"Australians seem obsessed with commemorating world wars. We watch high-rating TV shows in which Australians trace the footsteps of their military ancestors. We've built thousands of war memorials and hundreds of RSL clubs. We swim in war memorial pools. We drive to our national capital on a Remembrance Driveway, where roadside toilets remember our Victoria cross winners. We can buy sand from Gallipoli over the counter at any Australia Post, and buy military histories by the metre in our bookstores. At fottball grand finals the names of fallen soldiers grace the big screen. Commemoration is almost inescapable - lest we forget.
"Commemoration sells and war memorials are a growth industry in Australia. This year, while the Australian Defence Force budget was cut, the Australian War Memorial budget increased 25%. Staff and seed funds from government are supporting a campign for a $3.5 million dollar Peacekeepers Memorial, and another group is soliciting for a $3 million edifice to the distant Boer War. Another $25 million is planned for two new world war memorials beside Lake Burley-Griffin. The Prime Minister has committed $8.1 million to building new war memorials in Wellington and Washington. At $39.6 million, the planned outlay on these memorials will be greater than the budget of Australia's peak intelligence agency, the Office of National Assessments." (From On the 11th, remember the living, James Brown, Sydney Morning Herald, 11/11/11)
"Female cadets at the Australian Defence Force Academy are subjected to widespread, low-level sexual harassment, a comprehensive investigation of attitudes towards women at the ADF's officer training establishment has found. Sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick said she also heard confidential testimony describing how some senior cadets held competitions to score a 'trifecta' - sex with a first-year cadet from each of the 3 services... The low-level sexual harassment consisted mainly of jokes and stories, unwelcome questioning and discussion among cadets about sexual activity... The survey found 74.1% of females and 30.3% of males reported unacceptable gender-related or sex-related harassment. That included whistling, sexist and offensive remarks, put-downs and unwanted attempts to establish a sexual relationship. And 2.1% of women and 0.2% of men reported being forced to have sex without consent while 4.3% of women and 1.9% of men reported being treated badly for refusing to have sex." (Defence academy women 'targeted', Brendan Nicholson & Mark Dodd, The Australian, 4/11/11)
On the other:
"Across our nation today [11/11/11] we will pause to commemorate a great war that began before most of us were alive and ended with the deaths of 60,000 Australian soldiers. Our leaders will make speeches echoing honour and sacrifice, school captains will lay wreaths, and trumpeted reveilles will puncture a minute's silence. But what is the point of all this national emotional investment in commemoration?
"Australians seem obsessed with commemorating world wars. We watch high-rating TV shows in which Australians trace the footsteps of their military ancestors. We've built thousands of war memorials and hundreds of RSL clubs. We swim in war memorial pools. We drive to our national capital on a Remembrance Driveway, where roadside toilets remember our Victoria cross winners. We can buy sand from Gallipoli over the counter at any Australia Post, and buy military histories by the metre in our bookstores. At fottball grand finals the names of fallen soldiers grace the big screen. Commemoration is almost inescapable - lest we forget.
"Commemoration sells and war memorials are a growth industry in Australia. This year, while the Australian Defence Force budget was cut, the Australian War Memorial budget increased 25%. Staff and seed funds from government are supporting a campign for a $3.5 million dollar Peacekeepers Memorial, and another group is soliciting for a $3 million edifice to the distant Boer War. Another $25 million is planned for two new world war memorials beside Lake Burley-Griffin. The Prime Minister has committed $8.1 million to building new war memorials in Wellington and Washington. At $39.6 million, the planned outlay on these memorials will be greater than the budget of Australia's peak intelligence agency, the Office of National Assessments." (From On the 11th, remember the living, James Brown, Sydney Morning Herald, 11/11/11)
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
In With the Wrong Crowd
If torture is good
and black is white,
then day is night
and wrong is right.
Are these the truths
for which you fight?
When you're easily led and just can't help tagging along with the big boys, instead of thinking for yourself, staying home and doing something useful, you never know where you'll end up. Yes, I'm talking about you, Australia*:
"Documents released to the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) reveal that Major George O'Kane, a military lawyer with the Australian Defence Force, had concerns about the legality of interrogation techniques proposed for prisoners at Abu Ghraib. However, the Australian Government publicly announced that Major O'Kane's legal opinion was that the interrogation techniques complied with the Geneva Conventions. The Government has never corrected the public record. The proposed techniques - including sleep management, dietary manipulation and sensory deprivation - are generally regarded under international law as cruel and inhuman treatment and in some cases, torture.
"Major O'Kane was in Iraq, working as a legal officer in the office of the US Staff Judge Advocate, Colonel Marc Warren, the senior legal officer in Iraq, when he was asked to provide legal advice in 2003 about the proposed techniques. Major O'Kane said he believed the techniques would be open to abuse and had inadequate safeguards. He wrote in a legal memorandum dated 27 August 2003 that the techniques 'substantially comply' with the Geneva Convention, which imposes absolute standards. He later explained that the reason he did not think the techniques fully complied was because there was no time limits on their use.
"The Commanding officer of the US 205th Military Intelligence Brigade who sought Major O'Kane's advice had previously been investigated following the death of a detainee in Afghanistan. The same Brigade was later revealed as being at the centre of the abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib. Speaking inside the the Australian Federal Parliament on 30 May 2004, the head of Defence Legal Services, Air Commodore Simon Harvey, said Major O'Kane's legal memorandum concluded that the proposed interrogation techniques were consistent with the Geneva Conventions. In subsequent weeks, Defence Minister Robert Hill and senior Department of Defence officials knew Air Commodore Harvey's statement was inaccurate. However, the Department of Defence made no effort to correct the public record and refused to publicly release Major O'Kane's advice without first consulting the United States.
"Major O'Kane based his reservations about the legality of the proposed Abu Ghraib techniques on the fact that there was insufficient detail in the US Interrogation Manual about the length of time that interrogators could use techniques such as sleep management and sensory deprivation. Major O'Kane noted that the Australian Interrogation Manual also failed to specify time limits for these techniques and was therefore open to abuse. Major O'Kane may not have had the appropriate clearance to provide his advice. He was asked to confine his advice to proposed interrogation techniques for one particular individual who was considered a high value detainee. However, Major O'Kane provided general advice and looked at the US Interrogation Manual in general terms. Moreover, Major O'Kane based his advice on a view of the Geneva Conventions that was inconsistent with the Australian Government's publicly stated interpretation of international law. This placed Australia in the untenable position of endorsing a particular view about detention treatment and conditions that it simultaneously condemned." (Military Detention: uncovering the truth, Story 4 - Australian military lawyer's advice on interrogation techniques at Abu Ghraib, PIAC, 1/7/11, pp 6-7)
That's the PIAC's Executive Summary of the matter, stemming from a 6-year FOI battle with the Defence Department for hundreds of pages of documents relating to this and other matters showing little Australia clearly way out of its depth. In its reporting of the matter on the 4th of July, ABC1's 7.30 included the following pious soundbytes from another Australian military lawyer, Colonel Mike Kelly (now federal Labor MP for Eden-Monaro) attached at the time to the Coalition Provisional Authority of Paul Bremer:
"Geoff Thompson: Mike Kelly agrees that coalition forces simply got it wrong at Abu Ghraib and says their actions were inconsistent with his own advice to the Coalition Provisional Authority.
Mike Kelly: My clear advice to them at the time in Baghdad was a level of coercion that a civil policeman could apply in this situation should be... the limits of what they could do.
Geoff Thompson: And that wouldn't include putting women's underwear on men's heads?
Mike Kelly: No, I think those sorts of things go beyond the pale.
Geoff Thompson: George O'Kane says he saw no connection between the allegations of mistreatment he read in the ICRC report of October 2003 and the photos of abuse at Abu Ghraib published in April 2004 [See PIAC's Story 3]. Mike Kelly says the worst abuses began when a team from Guantanamo Bay arrived in Baghdad in September 2003.
Mike Kelly: The whole regime was suffering from a very poor lack of preparation and a very bad tactical approach and strategic approach to counter-insurgency, and then of course when the added element of the Guantanamo team came in, then we really went down a very dark road... You have to be able to justify yourself at the end of the day and to be open to scrutiny. And if you can't do that, then you're going down the same road as your enemies." (Australia's ties to Abu Ghraib)
Now I'm wondering just who wrote those insufficiently detailed Interrogation Manuals mentioned in PIAC's account above. And why is that you ask? Well, two reasons actually, and both straight out of the Sydney Morning Herald.
"Colonel Mike Kelly (who gained some notoriety when he wrote from Iraq to the NSW Premier, Bob Carr, to protest against the awarding of the Sydney Peace Prize to the Palestinian activist Hanan Ashrawi), was another central player. On his first tour - Kelly is now back in Iraq - he made multiple visits to detention facilities and played a key role in drafting interrogation procedures." (On the defensive, Mike Seccombe & Tom Allard, 5/6/04)
"The documents, which include extensive interviews with Major O'Kane when he returned from Iraq in 2004, reveal that as a military lawyer embedded with the United States he was a primary author of the manual for processing prisoners in Iraq." (ADF knew of abuses at Abu Ghraib, Anne Davies, Deborah Snow & Debra Jopson, 5/7/11)
These two surely need clarification.
[* See my 28/7/10 post 'A Mature Democracy?']
and black is white,
then day is night
and wrong is right.
Are these the truths
for which you fight?
When you're easily led and just can't help tagging along with the big boys, instead of thinking for yourself, staying home and doing something useful, you never know where you'll end up. Yes, I'm talking about you, Australia*:
"Documents released to the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) reveal that Major George O'Kane, a military lawyer with the Australian Defence Force, had concerns about the legality of interrogation techniques proposed for prisoners at Abu Ghraib. However, the Australian Government publicly announced that Major O'Kane's legal opinion was that the interrogation techniques complied with the Geneva Conventions. The Government has never corrected the public record. The proposed techniques - including sleep management, dietary manipulation and sensory deprivation - are generally regarded under international law as cruel and inhuman treatment and in some cases, torture.
"Major O'Kane was in Iraq, working as a legal officer in the office of the US Staff Judge Advocate, Colonel Marc Warren, the senior legal officer in Iraq, when he was asked to provide legal advice in 2003 about the proposed techniques. Major O'Kane said he believed the techniques would be open to abuse and had inadequate safeguards. He wrote in a legal memorandum dated 27 August 2003 that the techniques 'substantially comply' with the Geneva Convention, which imposes absolute standards. He later explained that the reason he did not think the techniques fully complied was because there was no time limits on their use.
"The Commanding officer of the US 205th Military Intelligence Brigade who sought Major O'Kane's advice had previously been investigated following the death of a detainee in Afghanistan. The same Brigade was later revealed as being at the centre of the abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib. Speaking inside the the Australian Federal Parliament on 30 May 2004, the head of Defence Legal Services, Air Commodore Simon Harvey, said Major O'Kane's legal memorandum concluded that the proposed interrogation techniques were consistent with the Geneva Conventions. In subsequent weeks, Defence Minister Robert Hill and senior Department of Defence officials knew Air Commodore Harvey's statement was inaccurate. However, the Department of Defence made no effort to correct the public record and refused to publicly release Major O'Kane's advice without first consulting the United States.
"Major O'Kane based his reservations about the legality of the proposed Abu Ghraib techniques on the fact that there was insufficient detail in the US Interrogation Manual about the length of time that interrogators could use techniques such as sleep management and sensory deprivation. Major O'Kane noted that the Australian Interrogation Manual also failed to specify time limits for these techniques and was therefore open to abuse. Major O'Kane may not have had the appropriate clearance to provide his advice. He was asked to confine his advice to proposed interrogation techniques for one particular individual who was considered a high value detainee. However, Major O'Kane provided general advice and looked at the US Interrogation Manual in general terms. Moreover, Major O'Kane based his advice on a view of the Geneva Conventions that was inconsistent with the Australian Government's publicly stated interpretation of international law. This placed Australia in the untenable position of endorsing a particular view about detention treatment and conditions that it simultaneously condemned." (Military Detention: uncovering the truth, Story 4 - Australian military lawyer's advice on interrogation techniques at Abu Ghraib, PIAC, 1/7/11, pp 6-7)
That's the PIAC's Executive Summary of the matter, stemming from a 6-year FOI battle with the Defence Department for hundreds of pages of documents relating to this and other matters showing little Australia clearly way out of its depth. In its reporting of the matter on the 4th of July, ABC1's 7.30 included the following pious soundbytes from another Australian military lawyer, Colonel Mike Kelly (now federal Labor MP for Eden-Monaro) attached at the time to the Coalition Provisional Authority of Paul Bremer:
"Geoff Thompson: Mike Kelly agrees that coalition forces simply got it wrong at Abu Ghraib and says their actions were inconsistent with his own advice to the Coalition Provisional Authority.
Mike Kelly: My clear advice to them at the time in Baghdad was a level of coercion that a civil policeman could apply in this situation should be... the limits of what they could do.
Geoff Thompson: And that wouldn't include putting women's underwear on men's heads?
Mike Kelly: No, I think those sorts of things go beyond the pale.
Geoff Thompson: George O'Kane says he saw no connection between the allegations of mistreatment he read in the ICRC report of October 2003 and the photos of abuse at Abu Ghraib published in April 2004 [See PIAC's Story 3]. Mike Kelly says the worst abuses began when a team from Guantanamo Bay arrived in Baghdad in September 2003.
Mike Kelly: The whole regime was suffering from a very poor lack of preparation and a very bad tactical approach and strategic approach to counter-insurgency, and then of course when the added element of the Guantanamo team came in, then we really went down a very dark road... You have to be able to justify yourself at the end of the day and to be open to scrutiny. And if you can't do that, then you're going down the same road as your enemies." (Australia's ties to Abu Ghraib)
Now I'm wondering just who wrote those insufficiently detailed Interrogation Manuals mentioned in PIAC's account above. And why is that you ask? Well, two reasons actually, and both straight out of the Sydney Morning Herald.
"Colonel Mike Kelly (who gained some notoriety when he wrote from Iraq to the NSW Premier, Bob Carr, to protest against the awarding of the Sydney Peace Prize to the Palestinian activist Hanan Ashrawi), was another central player. On his first tour - Kelly is now back in Iraq - he made multiple visits to detention facilities and played a key role in drafting interrogation procedures." (On the defensive, Mike Seccombe & Tom Allard, 5/6/04)
"The documents, which include extensive interviews with Major O'Kane when he returned from Iraq in 2004, reveal that as a military lawyer embedded with the United States he was a primary author of the manual for processing prisoners in Iraq." (ADF knew of abuses at Abu Ghraib, Anne Davies, Deborah Snow & Debra Jopson, 5/7/11)
These two surely need clarification.
[* See my 28/7/10 post 'A Mature Democracy?']
Sunday, July 3, 2011
A Penny for the Potentate
Of considerable interest:
"Officially, the US does not pay other governments for rights to military bases. The logic is straightforward: funneling money into the treasuries of foreign dictators cannot form the foundation of genuine strategic alliances. Yet, to fight wars in Iraq and Afghnistan... over the last decade the Pentagon has come to rely in an unprecedented way on a web of bases across the Middle East. And a NEWSWEEK investigation of Pentagon contracting practices in Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, and Bahrain has uncovered more than $14 billion paid mostly in sole-source contracts to companies controlled by ruling families across the Persian Gulf. The revelation raises a fundamental question: are US taxpayer dollars enriching the ruling potentates of friendly regimes just as the youthful protesters and the Arab Spring have brought a new push for democracy across the region?
"Take a look at Abu Dhabi. The wealthiest of the United Arab Emirates, it hosts a US Air Force at Al Dhafra, which is a vital refueling hub in the region. As is the case in most Gulf states, Abu Dhabi is ruled by a single family that dominates both government and business. Here it is the Nahyan family, and the emir... is worth $15 billion, and controls the country's national oil company, ADNOC. As it turns out, every drop of fuel that America buys for its planes at Al Dhafra... costing $5.2 billion since 2005 - is purchased from the Al Nahyan-controlled ADNOC. Yet, according to contract documents, that money has bypassed the competitive bidding process that is supposed to accompany any purchase - of firearms, flak jackets, or fuel - by the Pentagon." (Welfare for dictators, Aram Roston, newsweek.com, 26/6/11)
Virtually ignored by the ms media in this country, Australia, thanks to former prime minister Kevin Rudd, now has a military base in another of the Emirates, Dubai (See my posts Say It Isn't So (2/4/09) & Billabong Flats (12/11/09)).
The UAE, of course, hasn't a democratic bone in its body, even contributing troops to the Saudi intervention in Bahrain to prop up the brutally repressive Khalifa dynasty there.
The question arises, are we too making direct deposits in the deep pockets of the ruler of Dubai, and Prime Minister of the UAE, Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid al-Maktoum? And how much?
"Officially, the US does not pay other governments for rights to military bases. The logic is straightforward: funneling money into the treasuries of foreign dictators cannot form the foundation of genuine strategic alliances. Yet, to fight wars in Iraq and Afghnistan... over the last decade the Pentagon has come to rely in an unprecedented way on a web of bases across the Middle East. And a NEWSWEEK investigation of Pentagon contracting practices in Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, and Bahrain has uncovered more than $14 billion paid mostly in sole-source contracts to companies controlled by ruling families across the Persian Gulf. The revelation raises a fundamental question: are US taxpayer dollars enriching the ruling potentates of friendly regimes just as the youthful protesters and the Arab Spring have brought a new push for democracy across the region?
"Take a look at Abu Dhabi. The wealthiest of the United Arab Emirates, it hosts a US Air Force at Al Dhafra, which is a vital refueling hub in the region. As is the case in most Gulf states, Abu Dhabi is ruled by a single family that dominates both government and business. Here it is the Nahyan family, and the emir... is worth $15 billion, and controls the country's national oil company, ADNOC. As it turns out, every drop of fuel that America buys for its planes at Al Dhafra... costing $5.2 billion since 2005 - is purchased from the Al Nahyan-controlled ADNOC. Yet, according to contract documents, that money has bypassed the competitive bidding process that is supposed to accompany any purchase - of firearms, flak jackets, or fuel - by the Pentagon." (Welfare for dictators, Aram Roston, newsweek.com, 26/6/11)
Virtually ignored by the ms media in this country, Australia, thanks to former prime minister Kevin Rudd, now has a military base in another of the Emirates, Dubai (See my posts Say It Isn't So (2/4/09) & Billabong Flats (12/11/09)).
The UAE, of course, hasn't a democratic bone in its body, even contributing troops to the Saudi intervention in Bahrain to prop up the brutally repressive Khalifa dynasty there.
The question arises, are we too making direct deposits in the deep pockets of the ruler of Dubai, and Prime Minister of the UAE, Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid al-Maktoum? And how much?
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
You Go, Girl!
What is it with Gemmas and the military? Seems only yesterday I was writing about one (Military Madness Miscellany, 18/7/09), and now this:
"Gemma Tapp might not look like your typical aspiring fighter pilot, but the 15-year-old schoolgirl is certain that's where her destiny lies. And the Grade II student at St Margaret's Anglican Girls School in Brisbane wants to be right in the thick of the action, so the Gillard government's decision to fast-track women into frontline combat roles has delighted her. 'I think if women are prepared to work as hard as men, they should definitely be allowed to serve on the front line', said Ms Tapp, who plans to apply for a place at the Australian Defence Forces Academy when she finishes school. She said that when she first began researching a career in the military, she was stunned that there were jobs from which women were banned. 'I obviously went in knowing that women couldn't be on the frontline in infantry and that was... still quite unbelievable in this day and age', she said... Ms Tapp said her dream was to be a fighter pilot but she was keen to find out more about the GDO and ADG frontline positions. 'My goal in whatever I do is to get where I can make the biggest impact, and if that's on the frontline, then that's where I want to be', she said." (Gemma wants force to be with her, Sarah Elks, The Australian, 13/4/11)
OK, Gemma, you want to be right in the thick of the action, right? Then maybe a frontline infantry position would be the way to go, rather than a fighter pilot, which seems a little WWII, no? Just think, you'd get to blaze away at brown people and they'd get to blaze away at you, unless of course they were unarmed civilians, which they often are, in which case, they wouldn't blaze back, just drop and bleed all over the place instead. Either way it sounds like heaps of fun. What more could a young woman such as yourself possibly want out of life?
But then, you say you want to make the biggest impact, correct? In that case, I'd suggest you fly a bomber. You could drop those daisy cutters all over the place, right. Just imagine their impact on a village full of brown people. Now you see it, now you don't. And, like, you could be back to base in a jiffy in time for a spot of binge-drinking, sexual harrassment or worse with your mates! Coool!
"Gemma Tapp might not look like your typical aspiring fighter pilot, but the 15-year-old schoolgirl is certain that's where her destiny lies. And the Grade II student at St Margaret's Anglican Girls School in Brisbane wants to be right in the thick of the action, so the Gillard government's decision to fast-track women into frontline combat roles has delighted her. 'I think if women are prepared to work as hard as men, they should definitely be allowed to serve on the front line', said Ms Tapp, who plans to apply for a place at the Australian Defence Forces Academy when she finishes school. She said that when she first began researching a career in the military, she was stunned that there were jobs from which women were banned. 'I obviously went in knowing that women couldn't be on the frontline in infantry and that was... still quite unbelievable in this day and age', she said... Ms Tapp said her dream was to be a fighter pilot but she was keen to find out more about the GDO and ADG frontline positions. 'My goal in whatever I do is to get where I can make the biggest impact, and if that's on the frontline, then that's where I want to be', she said." (Gemma wants force to be with her, Sarah Elks, The Australian, 13/4/11)
OK, Gemma, you want to be right in the thick of the action, right? Then maybe a frontline infantry position would be the way to go, rather than a fighter pilot, which seems a little WWII, no? Just think, you'd get to blaze away at brown people and they'd get to blaze away at you, unless of course they were unarmed civilians, which they often are, in which case, they wouldn't blaze back, just drop and bleed all over the place instead. Either way it sounds like heaps of fun. What more could a young woman such as yourself possibly want out of life?
But then, you say you want to make the biggest impact, correct? In that case, I'd suggest you fly a bomber. You could drop those daisy cutters all over the place, right. Just imagine their impact on a village full of brown people. Now you see it, now you don't. And, like, you could be back to base in a jiffy in time for a spot of binge-drinking, sexual harrassment or worse with your mates! Coool!
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Army Dreamers
'B. F. P. O'*. [*British Forces Posted Overseas]
Army dreamers.
'Mammy's hero'.
'B. F. P. O'.
'Mammy's hero'.
Our little army boy
Is coming home from B. F. P. O.
I've a bunch of purple flowers
To decorate a mammy's hero.
Mourning in the aerodrome,
The weather warmer, he is colder.
Four men in uniform
To carry home my little soldier.
'What could he do?
Should have been a rock star'.
But he didn't have the money for a guitar.
'What could he do?
Should have been a politician'.
But he never had a proper education.
'What could he do?
Should have been a father'.
But he never even made it to his twenties.
What a waste...
Army dreamers.
Ooh, what a waste of
Army dreamers.
Tears o'er a tin box.
Oh, Jesus Christ, he wasn't to know,
Like a chicken with a fox,
He couldn't win the war with ego.
Give the kid the pick of pips,
And give him all your stripes and ribbons.
Now he's sitting in his hole,
He might as well have buttons and bows.
***
What a waste...
Army dreamers.
Ooh, what a waste...
Army dreamers.
Army Dreamers, Kate Bush
"The mission... is critical to making sure that this place does not again become a training ground and a place that sponsors violence and terrorism that is visited on innocent people around the world, but particularly on innocent Australians." (Prime Minister Julia Gillard honours fallen troops in Afghanistan, Mark Kenny, Herald Sun, 3/10/10)
"Kerry, I'm just going to be upfront about this: foreign policy is not my passion." (Julia Gillard, Gillard on Afghanistan, The 7.30 Report, 5/10/10)
"Taliban representatives and the government of the Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, have begun secret, high-level talks over a negotiated end to the war, Afghan and Arab sources say." (After 9 years of war & the loss of thousands of lives - including 21 Australians - The Taliban finally talk peace, Sydney Morning Herald, 7/10/10)
Army dreamers.
'Mammy's hero'.
'B. F. P. O'.
'Mammy's hero'.
Our little army boy
Is coming home from B. F. P. O.
I've a bunch of purple flowers
To decorate a mammy's hero.
Mourning in the aerodrome,
The weather warmer, he is colder.
Four men in uniform
To carry home my little soldier.
'What could he do?
Should have been a rock star'.
But he didn't have the money for a guitar.
'What could he do?
Should have been a politician'.
But he never had a proper education.
'What could he do?
Should have been a father'.
But he never even made it to his twenties.
What a waste...
Army dreamers.
Ooh, what a waste of
Army dreamers.
Tears o'er a tin box.
Oh, Jesus Christ, he wasn't to know,
Like a chicken with a fox,
He couldn't win the war with ego.
Give the kid the pick of pips,
And give him all your stripes and ribbons.
Now he's sitting in his hole,
He might as well have buttons and bows.
***
What a waste...
Army dreamers.
Ooh, what a waste...
Army dreamers.
Army Dreamers, Kate Bush
"The mission... is critical to making sure that this place does not again become a training ground and a place that sponsors violence and terrorism that is visited on innocent people around the world, but particularly on innocent Australians." (Prime Minister Julia Gillard honours fallen troops in Afghanistan, Mark Kenny, Herald Sun, 3/10/10)
"Kerry, I'm just going to be upfront about this: foreign policy is not my passion." (Julia Gillard, Gillard on Afghanistan, The 7.30 Report, 5/10/10)
"Taliban representatives and the government of the Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, have begun secret, high-level talks over a negotiated end to the war, Afghan and Arab sources say." (After 9 years of war & the loss of thousands of lives - including 21 Australians - The Taliban finally talk peace, Sydney Morning Herald, 7/10/10)
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Where Our Troops Are 'Serving'
As part of its Anzac Day coverage the Sydney Morning Herald published a Department of Defence list of Australia's overseas military involvement under the heading WHERE OUR TROOPS ARE SERVING (23/4/10). I've omitted Border Protection (400); East Timor (404); and the Solomon Islands (80) to highlight our far greater Middle East involvement, reordered the Herald's list in order of numbers of troops involved, and added some explanatory information in brackets:
Afghanistan
Operation SLIPPER (Afghanistan) 1550
Operation SLIPPER (Middle East) 800
Operation PALATE II 1
Iraq
Operation KRUGER 80 (Protecting the Australian Embassy in Baghdad)
Operation RIVERBANK 2 (UN Assistance Mission for Iraq)
Egypt
Operation MAZURKA 25 (Australia's contribution to the Multinational Force & Observers (MFO) in the Sinai, a non-UN organisation established in 1981 to oversee the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty of 1979)
Sudan
Operation AZURE 17 (UN)
Operation HEDGEROW 8
Middle East
Operation PALADIN 11 (UN Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO) established to supervise the truce agreed at the conclusion of the first Arab/Israeli War of 1948. Our involvement commenced in 1956)
The salient point here is that we currently have 2, 433 troops in Afghanistan and Iraq solely as a result of the former Howard government's servility towards the United States and the pathetic me-tooism of the Rudd government.
Afghanistan
Operation SLIPPER (Afghanistan) 1550
Operation SLIPPER (Middle East) 800
Operation PALATE II 1
Iraq
Operation KRUGER 80 (Protecting the Australian Embassy in Baghdad)
Operation RIVERBANK 2 (UN Assistance Mission for Iraq)
Egypt
Operation MAZURKA 25 (Australia's contribution to the Multinational Force & Observers (MFO) in the Sinai, a non-UN organisation established in 1981 to oversee the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty of 1979)
Sudan
Operation AZURE 17 (UN)
Operation HEDGEROW 8
Middle East
Operation PALADIN 11 (UN Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO) established to supervise the truce agreed at the conclusion of the first Arab/Israeli War of 1948. Our involvement commenced in 1956)
The salient point here is that we currently have 2, 433 troops in Afghanistan and Iraq solely as a result of the former Howard government's servility towards the United States and the pathetic me-tooism of the Rudd government.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Passports: Finally, Some Action
Nineteen days ago, Australia's genetically-modified Prime Minister Kevin ('Support for Israel is in my DNA') Rudd, miffed by Mossad's use of Australian passports in their dirty deed in Dubai, vowed not to "be silent" and to "get to the bottom" of the matter. He also talked about Israel "treating Australia with contempt" and promised "action" in response. (Aussies caught in Israeli spy hit, The Australian, 26/2/10)
Twelve days ago, despite the usual Israeli finger*, Rudd said, "[t]here is a way to go yet with our friends in Israel to resolving these matters to the satisfaction of the Australian Government... We continue to be in contact with them. We'll continue to work with our friends in Israel through multiple agencies and at the political level as well... I'm a lifelong supporter, defender and friend of the state of Israel. However, when it comes to this particular matter, I have a responsibility as Australian Prime Minister to get to the bottom of it and to establish that Australia's interests are being properly safeguarded in the future and I will do that." (Rudd unhappy with Israeli silence on passports, Phillip Coorey/Peter Hartcher, Sydney Morning Herald, 6/3/10)
[*"... a restrained Kevin Rudd said no more information had been forthcoming since Australia first protested last week."]
Nine days ago, Treasurer Wayne Swan, at a United Israel Appeal (UIA) Victoria gala(h) dinner, said, "Our countries and our people share so much, our love of democracy, our preference for peace, our opposition to extremism, and our responsibility to each other as citizens of the world... When it's all said and done, friends always end up on the same side when it really counts - and nothing counts more than the big contest between democracy on the one hand and intolerance on the other, especially between tolerance and anti-Semitism... That's why Australia and Israel will always be great friends - even if questions do arise between us from time to time as they have in recent weeks. What matters is that two great friends can get through such times, with lessons learnt." (Swan: Australia-Israel friendship will survive the passport affair, The Australian Jewish News, 12/3/10)
Well, seems the Israeli finger is still there on prominent display and we're still waiting to get to the bottom of the matter. However, all is not lost. I'm pleased to say the Rudd government has at last come up with some of the action he promised 19 days ago: "Australia has signed a multimillion-dollar deal with an Israeli defence company to develop a next-generation command and communications system for the Australian Defence Force. Minister for Defence Personnel, Materiel and Science Greg Combet said Haifa-based Elbit Systems Limited won the $349 million contract after a worldwide open tender. Elbit will develop a command, control and communications capability for elements of the army, Special Operations Command and the Air Force's combat support group." (Israel defence deal, The Age, 16/3/10)
Never let it be said that Rudd doesn't follow through on his promises.
Twelve days ago, despite the usual Israeli finger*, Rudd said, "[t]here is a way to go yet with our friends in Israel to resolving these matters to the satisfaction of the Australian Government... We continue to be in contact with them. We'll continue to work with our friends in Israel through multiple agencies and at the political level as well... I'm a lifelong supporter, defender and friend of the state of Israel. However, when it comes to this particular matter, I have a responsibility as Australian Prime Minister to get to the bottom of it and to establish that Australia's interests are being properly safeguarded in the future and I will do that." (Rudd unhappy with Israeli silence on passports, Phillip Coorey/Peter Hartcher, Sydney Morning Herald, 6/3/10)
[*"... a restrained Kevin Rudd said no more information had been forthcoming since Australia first protested last week."]
Nine days ago, Treasurer Wayne Swan, at a United Israel Appeal (UIA) Victoria gala(h) dinner, said, "Our countries and our people share so much, our love of democracy, our preference for peace, our opposition to extremism, and our responsibility to each other as citizens of the world... When it's all said and done, friends always end up on the same side when it really counts - and nothing counts more than the big contest between democracy on the one hand and intolerance on the other, especially between tolerance and anti-Semitism... That's why Australia and Israel will always be great friends - even if questions do arise between us from time to time as they have in recent weeks. What matters is that two great friends can get through such times, with lessons learnt." (Swan: Australia-Israel friendship will survive the passport affair, The Australian Jewish News, 12/3/10)
Well, seems the Israeli finger is still there on prominent display and we're still waiting to get to the bottom of the matter. However, all is not lost. I'm pleased to say the Rudd government has at last come up with some of the action he promised 19 days ago: "Australia has signed a multimillion-dollar deal with an Israeli defence company to develop a next-generation command and communications system for the Australian Defence Force. Minister for Defence Personnel, Materiel and Science Greg Combet said Haifa-based Elbit Systems Limited won the $349 million contract after a worldwide open tender. Elbit will develop a command, control and communications capability for elements of the army, Special Operations Command and the Air Force's combat support group." (Israel defence deal, The Age, 16/3/10)
Never let it be said that Rudd doesn't follow through on his promises.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Afghan Rambam
"A senior Australian army media adviser who served in Afghanistan and Iraq has revealed that a culture of excessive spin and unnecessary secrecy stopped important information reaching the public. Andrew Bird, who left the army in December after 8 years as an information operations and media adviser, said the defence force deliberately obscured or painted an overly rosy picture of the war in places like Afghanistan... Mr Bird said that when the defence department organised for Australian journalists to travel to conflict zones, the journalists were prevented from seeing anything negative compared to journalists from the US or Britain who had greater access. 'The way we do it with the Australian army, we take it almost like a show tour. You fly in, everything is rehearsed on schedule and you fly out again', Mr Bird said." (Veteran charges army over spin, Nick McKenzie/Rafael Epstein, Brisbane Times, 12/2/10)
I'm sure Greg (Jerusalem Prize) Sheridan, Peter Hartcher and their many rambammed mates throughout the Australian ms media* (not to mention their politician clones) know exactly what Andrew Bird is talking about. [* See my regularly updated 30/3/09 post I've Been to Israel Too]
I'm sure Greg (Jerusalem Prize) Sheridan, Peter Hartcher and their many rambammed mates throughout the Australian ms media* (not to mention their politician clones) know exactly what Andrew Bird is talking about. [* See my regularly updated 30/3/09 post I've Been to Israel Too]
Monday, November 23, 2009
A Brighter Future for Iraqis
Last Saturday, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told a parade of Australian troops who had 'served' in Iraq in Operation Catalyst (2003-2009), our 'contribution' to Operation Iraqi Freedom, that they were the "Anzacs of today," and that "[i]n our name and under our flag, they risked their lives to provide others with a brighter future."
In fact, one such glorious Anzac, Major-General Jim Molan, even became chief of operations of the Iraq multinational force, and in that capacity played a special part in providing said brighter future to the residents of Falluja in 2004 (see my 4/10/09 post Operation Get Goldstone).
A glimpse of same was thoughtfully provided by the Sydney Morning Herald on the very day the PM spoke:
"Zainab Abdul Latif moves wearily between her 3 children, wiping their foreheads and propping them up in their wheelchairs. 'Every day they need intensive care', the Falluja mother, 29, says. Neither her 2 sons, Amar, 5, and Moustafa, 3, or her daughter Mariam, 6, can walk or use their limbs. They speak 2 words - 'mama, baba' - between them. And all are in nappies. Zainab is one of many faces of Falluja's postwar years, overwhelmed by a workload that she has no means to change. 'They cannot eat or drink by themselves, and every day I have to take Mariam to the hospital. She is very sensitive to flu and regularly gets diarrhoea and other ailments. The doctors have told me they are mentally retarded and have nerve paralysis. They say it is congenital. I really can't take care of them like this and I need help'. One of the few people she can turn to is Bassem Allah, the senior obstetrician who is the chief custodian of Falluja's newborns. During medical school he had to search Iraq for case studies of an infant with a birth defect... 'Now, every day in my clinic... there are large numbers of congenital abnormalities or cases of chronic tumours... Now, believe me, it's like we are treating patients immediately after Hiroshima'. Across Falluja neonatal wards and centres for disabled people are facing such an influx of infants or children aged under 5 with chronic deformities that they are fast running out of space and staff to help... [Falluja] was the site of the 2 most savage and prolonged battles in Iraq during the past 6 years. The potentially toxic residue of precision munitions that rained on the city for up to 2 months in 2004 has left many medical professionals questioning the long-term impact of modern weaponry, although few are willing, so far, to directly blame the war." (Battered city's youngest victims, Martin Chulov, Guardian)
Futures don't come much brighter than that now, do they?
Hm... those munitions that were rained on the city? Sounds like depleted uranium (DU) weapons to me. We know that they were widely used by coalition forces in Iraq, and we know that they end up as a radioactive dust which can be inhaled, ingested or absorbed through wounds. In fact, DU weapons were also used in Iraq in the earlier Gulf War -with interesting consequences: "In February 1991, more than 300 tons... of DU weapons were used in southern Iraq. After 5-to 6-year latent periods, increases in childhood cancers and birth defects were documented in the Basra governate. The most recent data indicate a fourfold increase in congenital malformations compared to 1990, the year preceding the war." (World Tribunal on Iraq: Making the Case Against War, ed Muge Gursoy Sokmen, 2008, p 210)
With stuff like DU dust swirling around Falluja (and who knows where else in Iraq), the PM's talk of a brighter future for Iraqis is, if anything, understated. Given that the shelf-life of DU is around - oh - 4.5 billion years, he could have described it as an eternally glowing future.
In fact, one such glorious Anzac, Major-General Jim Molan, even became chief of operations of the Iraq multinational force, and in that capacity played a special part in providing said brighter future to the residents of Falluja in 2004 (see my 4/10/09 post Operation Get Goldstone).
A glimpse of same was thoughtfully provided by the Sydney Morning Herald on the very day the PM spoke:
"Zainab Abdul Latif moves wearily between her 3 children, wiping their foreheads and propping them up in their wheelchairs. 'Every day they need intensive care', the Falluja mother, 29, says. Neither her 2 sons, Amar, 5, and Moustafa, 3, or her daughter Mariam, 6, can walk or use their limbs. They speak 2 words - 'mama, baba' - between them. And all are in nappies. Zainab is one of many faces of Falluja's postwar years, overwhelmed by a workload that she has no means to change. 'They cannot eat or drink by themselves, and every day I have to take Mariam to the hospital. She is very sensitive to flu and regularly gets diarrhoea and other ailments. The doctors have told me they are mentally retarded and have nerve paralysis. They say it is congenital. I really can't take care of them like this and I need help'. One of the few people she can turn to is Bassem Allah, the senior obstetrician who is the chief custodian of Falluja's newborns. During medical school he had to search Iraq for case studies of an infant with a birth defect... 'Now, every day in my clinic... there are large numbers of congenital abnormalities or cases of chronic tumours... Now, believe me, it's like we are treating patients immediately after Hiroshima'. Across Falluja neonatal wards and centres for disabled people are facing such an influx of infants or children aged under 5 with chronic deformities that they are fast running out of space and staff to help... [Falluja] was the site of the 2 most savage and prolonged battles in Iraq during the past 6 years. The potentially toxic residue of precision munitions that rained on the city for up to 2 months in 2004 has left many medical professionals questioning the long-term impact of modern weaponry, although few are willing, so far, to directly blame the war." (Battered city's youngest victims, Martin Chulov, Guardian)
Futures don't come much brighter than that now, do they?
Hm... those munitions that were rained on the city? Sounds like depleted uranium (DU) weapons to me. We know that they were widely used by coalition forces in Iraq, and we know that they end up as a radioactive dust which can be inhaled, ingested or absorbed through wounds. In fact, DU weapons were also used in Iraq in the earlier Gulf War -with interesting consequences: "In February 1991, more than 300 tons... of DU weapons were used in southern Iraq. After 5-to 6-year latent periods, increases in childhood cancers and birth defects were documented in the Basra governate. The most recent data indicate a fourfold increase in congenital malformations compared to 1990, the year preceding the war." (World Tribunal on Iraq: Making the Case Against War, ed Muge Gursoy Sokmen, 2008, p 210)
With stuff like DU dust swirling around Falluja (and who knows where else in Iraq), the PM's talk of a brighter future for Iraqis is, if anything, understated. Given that the shelf-life of DU is around - oh - 4.5 billion years, he could have described it as an eternally glowing future.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Billabong Flats
Australia's descent into military madness as a support act for US imperialism is gaining pace under the Rudd Government. Read this (& weep):
"Don't tell anyone but the Federal Government is spending $87.5 million on a new Middle East military base. Not that it's using the word 'base'. Instead, budget papers state the money is being spent on 'command and control enhancements' in the Middle East. Under a diplomatic agreement with the host country, the location cannot be revealed. The Government cannot give the location of the old bases the new one is replacing. A Defence Force spokesman said he could not say where the bases are because of security considerations and 'host national sensitivities'. But given that the locations are widely known, the coyness has less to do with security and more to do with 'sensitivities'. Instead, it's imposed by the Arab hosts, who do not want to advertise they are accommodating foreign troops and their hardware. The secrecy leads to a curious absurdity: the details and images of most of the bases are on the internet, in the Middle East press and on Defence Force websites. Australian ambassadors have openly said where they are and they have been mentioned in Hansard. The Sun-Herald is a party to the subterfuge. On an ADF-escorted trip to the Middle East and Afghanistan, it signed an undertaking not to reveal 'operationally sensitive information' - including 'the country in which ADF support bases are located outside of Iraq and Afghanistan'. Without breaching that undertaking, we can reveal - drawing on what spies call open sources, and readers call Google - where these bases are. One of them has a big sign out the front, adorned with red kangaroos and the words 'Billabong Flats'. We can reveal bases have been or are being closed in Kuwait and Qatar. The new one is at Al Minhad Airbase in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. Australian troops going to Afghanistan acclimatise in Kuwait, at a compound attached to a US base called Camp Victory. The base is alongside Kuwait's Ali Al Salem Air Base. You can find more about the base at globalsecurity.org. Liberal senator David Bushby visited the base and told the Senate all about it on June 18." ($87.5m for not so secret army base, Tom Hyland, 8/11/09)
Sorry Tom, the Sydney Morning Herald's Peter Hartcher let the cat out of the bag in March of this year. You can read all about it - and more - at my 2/4/09 post Say It Isn't So.
"Don't tell anyone but the Federal Government is spending $87.5 million on a new Middle East military base. Not that it's using the word 'base'. Instead, budget papers state the money is being spent on 'command and control enhancements' in the Middle East. Under a diplomatic agreement with the host country, the location cannot be revealed. The Government cannot give the location of the old bases the new one is replacing. A Defence Force spokesman said he could not say where the bases are because of security considerations and 'host national sensitivities'. But given that the locations are widely known, the coyness has less to do with security and more to do with 'sensitivities'. Instead, it's imposed by the Arab hosts, who do not want to advertise they are accommodating foreign troops and their hardware. The secrecy leads to a curious absurdity: the details and images of most of the bases are on the internet, in the Middle East press and on Defence Force websites. Australian ambassadors have openly said where they are and they have been mentioned in Hansard. The Sun-Herald is a party to the subterfuge. On an ADF-escorted trip to the Middle East and Afghanistan, it signed an undertaking not to reveal 'operationally sensitive information' - including 'the country in which ADF support bases are located outside of Iraq and Afghanistan'. Without breaching that undertaking, we can reveal - drawing on what spies call open sources, and readers call Google - where these bases are. One of them has a big sign out the front, adorned with red kangaroos and the words 'Billabong Flats'. We can reveal bases have been or are being closed in Kuwait and Qatar. The new one is at Al Minhad Airbase in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. Australian troops going to Afghanistan acclimatise in Kuwait, at a compound attached to a US base called Camp Victory. The base is alongside Kuwait's Ali Al Salem Air Base. You can find more about the base at globalsecurity.org. Liberal senator David Bushby visited the base and told the Senate all about it on June 18." ($87.5m for not so secret army base, Tom Hyland, 8/11/09)
Sorry Tom, the Sydney Morning Herald's Peter Hartcher let the cat out of the bag in March of this year. You can read all about it - and more - at my 2/4/09 post Say It Isn't So.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Military Madness Miscellany
"One of the habits of our national life is to glorify all aspects of the military. I have always assumed this gushing, out-of-proportion praise could only come from those who have never met our soldiers and experienced first-hand their limited intelligence and primeval interests in life." Mark Latham (Latham berated for attack on Diggers, The Australian, 12/6/09)
"They may not legally be able to join the armed forces yet, but that hasn't stopped a group of Tasmanian students from getting right into the defence of Australia. Four pupils have received Defence 2020 National Youth Challenge awards... 'We had to do all these assignments'... Bothwell District HS' Gemma Lovell explains... 'We had to speak to someone who's been in the army... I learnt how all the army people help everyone overseas, like in Afghanistan. A lot of people are very poor and don't have any food or anything like that, and the way [the Army] help is really good. It's not all fighting... The most challenging thing I did was when we went down to Holsworthy in Sydney, which is the army base. Me and this guy from Queensland had to ask questions of the army people that had come back from Afghanistan a few weeks back... We got to hold these machine gun things [which] was pretty cool and it all got filmed and goes on a website'." (Defence insight secures win, spress.com.au, 11/2/09)
"Soldiers in Afghanistan will carry cash to pay civilians whose family members are killed or injured or whose property is destroyed as a result of Australian Defence Force operations.... Defence believes allowing tactical commanders the discretion to make on-the-spot payments will help it win the 'hearts and minds battle'." (Troops give cash to Afghan victims, Cynthia Banham, Sydney Morning Herald, 2/7/09)
"REMEMBER THEM Military History Tours 2009/10: Military History Tours (Aust) Pty Ltd, the operators behind the successful battlefield tours to Villiers-Bretonneaux, is proud to present 3 new tours to battle sites significant to the Anzacs and to Australians as a whole. Each tour includes accomodation, most meals, all transfers and Australian tour guides fully trained in military history." Advertisement, The Australian, 7/7/09)
"And I will be going to Israel on a Yachad Scholarship to study disability issues and the role of women in the Israeli military." (Senator Mitch Fifield, Adjournment Speech - Gilad Shalit, 25/6/09, mitchfifield.com) [See my 11/7/09 post Hot on Gillard's High Heels]
"We ought to pay close attention to what preoccupies our military. While defense officials hold discussions on buying the F-35 combat jet at $200 million per plane, the IDF is mostly busy with miserable, pointless police work that befits an occupation army... In the dead of night, soldiers in elite and not-so-elite units break into the homes of Palestinians... and needlessly awaken and frighten women and children. Their comrades spend their service standing at checkpoints, occasionally shooting and killing needlessly. Other soldiers chase after children throwing stones or Molotov cocktails and shoot at them... We saw it, of course, during Operation Cast Lead, the war that provoked almost no opposition. As reported last week by... Human Rights Watch, our drones bombed helpless Gaza residents... Our jets and helicopters, among the most sophisticated in the world, are bombing residential neighborhoods. They may be preparing for an operation that fires the imagination in Iran, but meanwhile they are circling the Gaza sky as if it belonged to them. If that were not enough, we now have the most advanced system of all: female soldiers who are lookouts trained to shoot live fire after completing 'precedent-setting training'. The army newspaper Bamahane reported it with great enthusiasm: 'This is the first time female soldiers will shoot automatic gunfire from within a WR, noted the CO of the TB', whatever those initials mean. In simpler language, it means that 19-year old girls are playing with joysticks in an air-conditioned room and 'taking down' people. This then is the great progress of the 'people's army' - to train women to kill, while their comrades, soldiers and Border Police, are routinely sent to shoot live fire at unarmed demonstrators at Bil'in and Na'alin. This, for the most part, is the IDF's balance sheet. This is what largely preoccupies the best, most moral army in the world. Pilots who have never fought in an air battle and soldiers with no army against them now spend most of their time maintaining the occupation in a kind of pathetic combat, and they are our protective shield. When the day of reckoning comes, we will remember this." (Our IDF, Gideon Levy, Haaretz, 6/7/09)
"They may not legally be able to join the armed forces yet, but that hasn't stopped a group of Tasmanian students from getting right into the defence of Australia. Four pupils have received Defence 2020 National Youth Challenge awards... 'We had to do all these assignments'... Bothwell District HS' Gemma Lovell explains... 'We had to speak to someone who's been in the army... I learnt how all the army people help everyone overseas, like in Afghanistan. A lot of people are very poor and don't have any food or anything like that, and the way [the Army] help is really good. It's not all fighting... The most challenging thing I did was when we went down to Holsworthy in Sydney, which is the army base. Me and this guy from Queensland had to ask questions of the army people that had come back from Afghanistan a few weeks back... We got to hold these machine gun things [which] was pretty cool and it all got filmed and goes on a website'." (Defence insight secures win, spress.com.au, 11/2/09)
"Soldiers in Afghanistan will carry cash to pay civilians whose family members are killed or injured or whose property is destroyed as a result of Australian Defence Force operations.... Defence believes allowing tactical commanders the discretion to make on-the-spot payments will help it win the 'hearts and minds battle'." (Troops give cash to Afghan victims, Cynthia Banham, Sydney Morning Herald, 2/7/09)
"REMEMBER THEM Military History Tours 2009/10: Military History Tours (Aust) Pty Ltd, the operators behind the successful battlefield tours to Villiers-Bretonneaux, is proud to present 3 new tours to battle sites significant to the Anzacs and to Australians as a whole. Each tour includes accomodation, most meals, all transfers and Australian tour guides fully trained in military history." Advertisement, The Australian, 7/7/09)
"And I will be going to Israel on a Yachad Scholarship to study disability issues and the role of women in the Israeli military." (Senator Mitch Fifield, Adjournment Speech - Gilad Shalit, 25/6/09, mitchfifield.com) [See my 11/7/09 post Hot on Gillard's High Heels]
"We ought to pay close attention to what preoccupies our military. While defense officials hold discussions on buying the F-35 combat jet at $200 million per plane, the IDF is mostly busy with miserable, pointless police work that befits an occupation army... In the dead of night, soldiers in elite and not-so-elite units break into the homes of Palestinians... and needlessly awaken and frighten women and children. Their comrades spend their service standing at checkpoints, occasionally shooting and killing needlessly. Other soldiers chase after children throwing stones or Molotov cocktails and shoot at them... We saw it, of course, during Operation Cast Lead, the war that provoked almost no opposition. As reported last week by... Human Rights Watch, our drones bombed helpless Gaza residents... Our jets and helicopters, among the most sophisticated in the world, are bombing residential neighborhoods. They may be preparing for an operation that fires the imagination in Iran, but meanwhile they are circling the Gaza sky as if it belonged to them. If that were not enough, we now have the most advanced system of all: female soldiers who are lookouts trained to shoot live fire after completing 'precedent-setting training'. The army newspaper Bamahane reported it with great enthusiasm: 'This is the first time female soldiers will shoot automatic gunfire from within a WR, noted the CO of the TB', whatever those initials mean. In simpler language, it means that 19-year old girls are playing with joysticks in an air-conditioned room and 'taking down' people. This then is the great progress of the 'people's army' - to train women to kill, while their comrades, soldiers and Border Police, are routinely sent to shoot live fire at unarmed demonstrators at Bil'in and Na'alin. This, for the most part, is the IDF's balance sheet. This is what largely preoccupies the best, most moral army in the world. Pilots who have never fought in an air battle and soldiers with no army against them now spend most of their time maintaining the occupation in a kind of pathetic combat, and they are our protective shield. When the day of reckoning comes, we will remember this." (Our IDF, Gideon Levy, Haaretz, 6/7/09)
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Say It Isn't So
Say it isn't so: "The Federal Government has moved to permanently base Australia's various Middle Eastern regional military assets in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In return, Australia has about 30 personnel in the UAE training its fast-growing special forces troopers. Behind the details of the arrangement are the 2 countries' larger needs. Australia has decided to stop pretending. Instead of pretending that we are occasional visitors to the Middle East, only rushing in when the US decides to go to war there and rushing out when it finishes, Australia is now acknowledging that it has permanent interests in the area... Both countries are now girding for the coming crisis with Iran, which lies just across the Gulf from the UAE." (Gulf friends look to us as Iran flexes its muscles, Peter Hartcher*, Sydney Morning Herald, 31/3/09)
The pro-US UAE, according to Hartcher, is worried about Iranian retaliation in the event of a strike by USrael against its nuclear facilities. That's the UAE's "larger need," but what's ours? We're still in Iraq, we've never been more involved in Afghanistan, and prime minister Rudd has even offered counter-insurgency trainers to Pakistan (see my 31/7/08 post Pure Genius) and spoken of his interest in keeping the Straits of Hormuz open "in coalition with the US." (See my 22/9/08 post The Left Hand... & the Right) But, wherein lies Australia's "larger need" to keep open the Straits of Hormuz and beef up the UAE's special forces?
As Scott Ritter reminds us in his 2006 book Target Iran: "The conflict currently underway between the US and Iran is, first and foremost, born in Israel. It is based upon an Israeli contention that Iran poses a threat to Israel, and defined by Israeli assertions that Iran possesses a nuclear weapons program. None of this has been shown to be true, and indeed many of the allegations made by Israel against Iran have been clearly demonstrated as being false. And yet the US continues to trumpet the Israeli claims..." (p 208) If so, it looks as though the only possible reason for the Rudd government's newfound interest in the Straits of Hormuz and a "permanent" presence in the Emirates is to aid and abet the coming USraeli mugging of Iran, itself the product of Israel's desire for regional hegemony.
After all, Rudd has said that support for Israel is "in his DNA," and, alone among world misleaders, has threatened to drag the Iranian president before the International Court of Justice for incitement to genocide against Israel. (See my 23/5/08 post Kevin Bonhoeffer vs Adolf Ahmadinejad) And what would you expect of a man whose speeches at Zionist functions could just as easily have been given by any of Israel's current crop of misleaders: "Israel has always confronted these challenges to its existential existence. That is why Israel continues to survive to this day - resolute in its mission and intelligent in its stategy." (Rudd: I am Israel's proud 'lifelong' friend, The Australian Jewish News, 23/2/07)
Into what uncharted foreign policy waters is Rudd taking this country?
[* Hartcher affixed the following disclosure to his piece: "Peter Hartcher, the Herald's international editor, travelled to the UAE as a guest of the Lowy Institute for International Policy." Can we expect a similar disclosure from the next Israel junketeer? Don't hold your breath.]
The pro-US UAE, according to Hartcher, is worried about Iranian retaliation in the event of a strike by USrael against its nuclear facilities. That's the UAE's "larger need," but what's ours? We're still in Iraq, we've never been more involved in Afghanistan, and prime minister Rudd has even offered counter-insurgency trainers to Pakistan (see my 31/7/08 post Pure Genius) and spoken of his interest in keeping the Straits of Hormuz open "in coalition with the US." (See my 22/9/08 post The Left Hand... & the Right) But, wherein lies Australia's "larger need" to keep open the Straits of Hormuz and beef up the UAE's special forces?
As Scott Ritter reminds us in his 2006 book Target Iran: "The conflict currently underway between the US and Iran is, first and foremost, born in Israel. It is based upon an Israeli contention that Iran poses a threat to Israel, and defined by Israeli assertions that Iran possesses a nuclear weapons program. None of this has been shown to be true, and indeed many of the allegations made by Israel against Iran have been clearly demonstrated as being false. And yet the US continues to trumpet the Israeli claims..." (p 208) If so, it looks as though the only possible reason for the Rudd government's newfound interest in the Straits of Hormuz and a "permanent" presence in the Emirates is to aid and abet the coming USraeli mugging of Iran, itself the product of Israel's desire for regional hegemony.
After all, Rudd has said that support for Israel is "in his DNA," and, alone among world misleaders, has threatened to drag the Iranian president before the International Court of Justice for incitement to genocide against Israel. (See my 23/5/08 post Kevin Bonhoeffer vs Adolf Ahmadinejad) And what would you expect of a man whose speeches at Zionist functions could just as easily have been given by any of Israel's current crop of misleaders: "Israel has always confronted these challenges to its existential existence. That is why Israel continues to survive to this day - resolute in its mission and intelligent in its stategy." (Rudd: I am Israel's proud 'lifelong' friend, The Australian Jewish News, 23/2/07)
Into what uncharted foreign policy waters is Rudd taking this country?
[* Hartcher affixed the following disclosure to his piece: "Peter Hartcher, the Herald's international editor, travelled to the UAE as a guest of the Lowy Institute for International Policy." Can we expect a similar disclosure from the next Israel junketeer? Don't hold your breath.]
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