[APSNet] APSNet 2006-02-13

Sun Feb 12 22:52:33 CST 2006

APSNet 2006-02-13

1. PM: Troops To Stay In Iraq, SMH February 2006-02-12

Australian troops could remain in Iraq beyond the expected withdrawal of the Japanese engineers they were sent to protect, Prime Minister 
John Howard says. Australia's 460-member Al Muthanna Task Group is in southern Iraq protecting the Japanese contingent, thought to be returning home in May. 
<http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/pm-troops-to-stay-in-iraq/2006/02/12/1139679465809.html>

2. US Alliance Overlooks Asia, Geoffrey Barker, AFR*, 2006-02-13

Keeping troops in Iraq would run counter to Australia's long-term interests. The next US administration is unlikely to embrace the neo-conservative Bush doctrines, and the next Australian government will find itself increasingly having to balance relations with the US, China and Japan. Pressing on in Iraq is no way to start that process.
<http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/newsSearch.ac?ac=search&sy=afr&ss=AFR&dt=selectRange&so=relevance&sp=0&rc=10&dr=1month&pb=fin&sf=article&kw=US+alliance+overlooks+Asia&go=go>

* Subscription required

3. Investigation Launched Into Faulty Defence Equipment, Michael McKinnon & Cameron Stewart, Australian, 2006-02-13

An investigation has been launched into the Defence Department unit charged with equipping Australian soldiers amid allegations of defective equipment and conflicts of interest. Internal Defence documents, obtained under FOI laws, revealed a range of problems. <http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,18126989%255E601,00.html>

Links:

Enemy Is In Canberra, Say Diggers, Michael McKinnon and Cameron Stewart, Australian, 2006-02-13
<http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,18126991%255E31477,00.html>

4. Spies In Dark On Kickbacks: PM, Cath Hart, Australian, 2006-02-13

The Prime Minister revealed the Office of National Assessments (ONA) was in the dark on the kickbacks. ONA, which provides the Government with analysis of international developments based on intelligence, diplomatic reporting and public material, did not make available any reports about AWB's dealings with Saddam, Mr Howard said. 
<http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,18127306%255E5001561,00.html>

Links:

Spy Agencies Had Eye On Payments, Says AWB Officer, Marian Wilkinson, SMH, 2006-02-09
<http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/spy-agencies-had-eye-on-payments-says-awb-officer/2006/02/08/1139379573595.html>

Treasury raised the alarm on kickbacks, Marian Wilkinson, SMH, 2006-02-13
<http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/treasury-raised-the-alarm-on-kickbacks/2006/02/12/1139679480757.html>

5. CSIRO Muzzles Climate Scientists, Tracy Ong, Australian, 2006-02-13
Three of the CSIRO's top climate change experts were repeatedly gagged from talking about cutting greenhouse emissions by an increasingly censorious organisation worried about continued government funding. <http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,18126870%255E30417,00.html>

Special Report 1: Volker Inquiry, Cole Inquiry And The Oil-For Food Program

The UN Oil-For-Food Program: Who Is Guilty?, Brian Urquhart, New York Review Of Books 53:2, 2006-02-09
The Volker report is certainly the most detailed and searching inquiry every undertaken. In the Inquiry Committee's words,  "This very large and very complex Program accomplished many vital roles in Iraq * Responsibility for what went wrong with the Program cannot be laid excusively at the door of the Secretariat. Members of the Security Council must shoulder their share of the blame in providing uneven and wavering direction in the implementation of the progrm.
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/article-preview?article_id=18683 

* Subscription required

Links:

Inquiry into certain Australian companies in relation to the UN Oil-For-Food Programme (Cole Inquiry)
<http://www.ag.gov.au/agd/www/UNOilForFoodInquiry.nsf>

Independent Inquiry Committee into the U.N. Oil-for-Food Programme  
(Volker Inquiry)  <http://www.iic-offp.org> 

Summary of the Report of the Independent Inquiry Committee into the  
U.N. Oil-for-Food Programme (Volker Inquiry) (   
<http://www.iic-offp.org/documents/Final%20Report%2027Oct05/IIC%20Final%20Report%20-%20Chapter%20One.pdf>

The Management of the United Nations Oil-for-Food Programme (five volumes), Definitive Report by the Independent Inquiry Committee into the United Nations  Oil-for-Food Programme.  Paul A. Volcker (Chairman), Richard J. Goldstone (Member), and Mark  Pieth (Member). 2005-09-07
<http://www.iic-offp.org/Mgmt_Report.htm>

Manipulation of the Oil-for-Food Programme by the Iraqi Regime. Paul A. Volcker (Chairman), Richard J. Goldstone (Member), and Mark  Pieth (Member). 2005-10-27  
<http://www.iic-offp.org/documents/IIC%20Final%20Report%2027Oct2005.pdf>

Special Report 2: New Zealand's Role in International Electronic Surveillance

Spies Are Our Hidden Heroes, Warren Tucker, The Dominion Post, 2006-01-31

New Zealand Government Communications Security Bureau director Warren Tucker defends the organisation after a top-secret intelligence report from 20 years ago showed New Zealand had been spying on friendly countries.
<http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3557341a6220,00.html>

Links:

Lange's Secrets, Helen Bain, Sunday Star Times (NZ), 2006-01-15
<http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/sundaystartimes/0,2106,3540743a6005,00.html>

Officials Seek Ban After Secrets Gaffe, Helen Bain, Sunday Star Times (NZ), 2006-01-22
<http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3548217a11,00.html> 

NSA's Worldwide Appetite, Bill Arkin's Early Warning blog on the Washington Post 
<http://blogs.washingtonpost.com/earlywarning/2006/01/nsas_worldwide_.html>

Government Communications Security Bureau, New Zealand Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet
<http://www.gcsb.govt.nz>

Eavesdropping 101: What can the NSA do? ACLU
<http://www.aclu.org/pdfs/eavesdropping101.pdf>

Nicky Hager, Secret Power - New Zealand's Role in the International  
Spy Network
<http://www.fas.org/irp/eprint/sp>

Jane Mullett
Nautilus Institute at RMIT
http://nautilus.rmit.edu.au/
ph: +61 3 99253170