Leavenworth Strategist

Australia, US to Invite China to War Games

By Phil Mercer (VOA)
Sydney
03 September 2009

Australia and the United States will invite China to take part in joint military exercises to help ease fears about an arms race in the Asia-Pacific region.

Ties between Australia and China have been strained over concerns about Beijing's military expansion and the precarious nature of trade negotiations.

As a way of soothing tensions, Australian and U.S. defense officials have agreed to approach the Chinese about taking part in joint military exercises.

Admiral Timothy Keating, the commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, told a Sydney newspaper that talks with Beijing were a positive sign that China was willing to cooperate in the plan. Keating also expressed hope that any joint exercise would help the U.S. and its allies better understand China's reasons for boosting its weapons capabilities...

Generals Discuss NATO Role in Afghan Elections

By Judith Snyderman
Special to American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 19, 2009 – The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan is supporting Afghan security forces’ efforts to secure polling centers, reduce the effects of insurgents and counter voter apathy in some regions in advance of tomorrow’s presidential and provincial council elections. 

“We are doing everything we can in conjunction with our Afghan partners to provide the very best security arrangements, and we’ve worked hard to reassure the local Afghan communities that they should take part in the election process,” Australian Brig. Gen. Damian Cantwell, chief of ISAF’s election task force, said yesterday during a “DoDLive” bloggers roundtable.

Cantwell described some of the measures ISAF has taken, including taking part in a day-long security rehearsal and sending representatives to meet with local election planners.

“We’ve gone out to each location, we’ve listened to their joint security planning supported by ISAF, [and] we’ve asked them quite telling questions about how they are going to execute the security plan on the day,” said Cantwell, who added he is impressed with what he has seen. “What we are talking about here is a team of security professionals who have demonstrated a very strong desire to do the very best for their people.”

Cantwell and Canadian Brig. Gen. Eric Tremblay, an ISAF spokesman, said they expect the recent spike in insurgent activity to continue. But Tremblay noted that while insurgents have averaged 32 attacks a day for the past 10 days, they can’t disrupt 6,500 polling stations throughout Afghanistan.  

“Clearly, when you look at those numbers, they don’t have the capacity to intimidate and prevent the 15 million Afghan voters that have been registered for these elections,” Tremblay said...

(Judith Snyderman works in the Defense Media Activity’s emerging media directorate.)

 

2nd Troop Accord Passes In Iraq

By Ernesto Londoño
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, December 24, 2008; A07

BAGHDAD, Dec. 23 -- Iraq's parliament on Tuesday night signed off on a security agreement that would allow thousands of British troops and a few hundred soldiers from a handful of other countries to stay in Iraq until next summer.

The approval, which was delayed by recent fights in parliament, paves the way for the Iraqi government to sign a security agreement with Britain that covers small contingents from Australia, Estonia and Romania.

Those troops will be authorized to stay in Iraq until July, and their departure will mark the end of the "coalition of the willing."

Iraq MPs block non-US troop bill

(BBC) Iraq's parliament has rejected a draft law that would have permitted forces from the UK, Australia and a number of other countries to remain after 2008.

The bill, rejected by 80 votes to 68, would have given the 6,000 non-US troops a legal basis for staying once the UN mandate expires on 31 December...

Operation begins in East Timor

DILI, East Timor (AP) -- Australian troops backed by helicopters hunted Thursday for suspects in the attacks on East Timor's top leaders, as new details emerged on the strike that left the president critically wounded.

The operation, which also involved U.N. police officers and armored personnel carriers, took place on the outskirts of Dili and involved troops combing through the jungle searching for suspects, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene.

U.N. spokesman Alison Cooper confirmed "anti-insurgency" operations had begun.

Australia Says NATO Needs New Strategy in Afghanistan

By TIM JOHNSTON (NYT)

SYDNEY, Australia — Australia wants a major reconsideration of Western strategy in Afghanistan and will not increase its troop levels in the country until “underperforming” NATO countries shoulder their fair share of the burden, the Australian defense minister said Tuesday.

“I have to say the West isn’t pursuing a coherent strategy in Afghanistan,” the newly appointed defense minister, Joel Fitzgibbon, said by telephone.

“We want to see more done to raise the number of both the Afghan National Army troops and Afghan National Police; we want to see a better strategy on narcotics; and we want to see much more done on the civil side,” he said.

Australia, with 970 troops in Afghanistan, is the largest non-NATO contributor to the effort. Four Australian soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan and 30 have been wounded.

New Australian PM signals Iraq pullout

From The Sunday Times

November 25, 2007
Paul Ham, Sydney

AUSTRALIA’S new prime minister Kevin Rudd will mark his arrival on the international stage by announcing the withdrawal of his country’s combat troops from Iraq and signing the Kyoto treaty on climate change.

Rudd, a republican and former diplomat, swept to power as his Labor party stormed to a landslide victory in yesterday’s elections.

Official figures showed Labor had won more than 53% of the vote, compared with just under 47% for the ruling Liberal coalition of John Howard, who had served four terms as prime minister but lost his seat. Computer projections forecast that Labor would secure 86 seats in the 150-seat lower house of parliament.