Author: Kev

Retired infantry officer. Conservative by nature and politics; Happily married and father and grandfather of eight. Loves V8 powered Range Rovers, Golden Retrievers, good books and technology and think there should be open season on Greenies. Born in the mid forties and overdue for servicing but most parts still work.

Black Hawk down

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ONE Australian soldier is dead and another is missing after a Black Hawk helicopter crashed into the sea while landing aboard HMAS Kanimbla off Fiji today.
The victim was pulled alive from the water after the helicopter went down but died as he was being treated for his injuries aboard the Kanimbla. He has not been named.
Seven other soldiers were injured but are not in a serious condition. A total of 10 personnel – including six SAS troops – were on board. Over the last decade, Australia has lost many more service personnel in helicopter accidents than from any other cause. In the tragedy on Nias Island, Indonesia, in April 2005, nine died when a navy Sea King helicopter crashed as it came in to land. In June 1996, 18 servicemen, including 15 members of the crack Special Air Service regiment, died when two helicopters collided during a training exercise near Townsville in Queensland. The names have not been released yet and all of the defence community and those of us interested in their welfare will have an uneasy time until we know the fate of the missing trooper. You might spare a thought for those at home waiting for the knock on the door. Tonight and tomorrow morning a wife or mother will answer a knock on the door and will see an army padre and attending officer and her world will fall apart. It’s sad but if you live on the edge oft times someone falls over.
Defence

I can see more clearly now

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When posting on Peter Tinley the other day I resisted the temptation to ask when he was going to nominate for federal parliament although I did say that if ex Army Officers critisize the government of the day they should do so quoting their political aspirations rather than their military qualifications. I was so sure he was an ALP member I even googled his name looking for an association but couldn’t find any. I obviously need better intelligence that would allow me to follow up a persons obvious political leanings – is there a list of party members anywhere on the net? Todays press announces Peter’s intention to seek preselection for the crucial marginal seat of Stirling in Western Australia for the ALP and in fact mentions he joined the Fremantle branch of the ALP in 2001. He should’ve resigned his commission then as the army officers code holds us to being apoliticial – can’t do the job otherwise. Why is none of this a surprise?
He also claims to have been traumatised by his deployment to the MV Tampa which happened just after his joining the ALP He was scathing about that “frightful” experience yesterday, saying it played a big part in his political awakening. “We were effectively invading the sovereign soil of Norway … the Government was using us as a political tool,” he said.
Yeah, right and what sort of mission brief did he give his troopers for that deployment? A more honest headline in the Saturday’s Weekend Australian might have read ALP member with left wing tendencies says Iraq is a blunder and buried in the article could’ve been a mention of his military background. That way it wouldn’t have been so embarrassing to the Corps.
Politics

Majors now running Defence Policy

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Well it’s all settled then. We have the Shadow minister for defence saying defence policy should be dictated by a Major. I guess smaller incursions than Iraq, say Fiji, could be stage managed by the Sergeant’s Mess on that basis. Peter Tinley has been reported in Saturday’s press as saying Iraq is a moral blunder and to lend more weight to his opinion the article identifies him as a ex SAS Major and war hero – both sound qualifications for a considered opinion however I just can’t get it out of my mind that there is some political overture involved. Peter has retired from the Military and has set up a sandstone business in Fremantle, Australis Pavestone and Blue Gum Leadership, a .leadership Consultancy He is moving into the corporate world and lectures and submits articles to various institutions in West Australia including the Curtin Business School and the Fire and Emergency Services Authority. Nothing wrong with any of that and front page Weekend Australia isnt going to hurt his aspirations. Good or bad, publicity is publicity. I may be old fashioned but I’m of the opinion that ex officers should not go public about finer points of intelligence planning and if they critisize the government of the day they should do so quoting their political aspirations rather than their military qualifications. I might add that a Major doesn’t really have much sway in war zones and I’ve generally found they are too close to the action to have objective opinions about the war overall albeit very in-tune with their immediate responsibility. But that’s just the opinion of an ex major and would hardly rate against opinions of editors with a mission to increase circulation. Peter’s not quiet so angry in this Army News article that announces his being made a Member of the Order of Australia for his role in the planning and coordination of the Op Falconer. Happy to accept awards from the same people who he now says ‘cynically used the ADF and duped the public’ – maybe he has a double standard issue.
“It was a cynical use of the Australian Defence Force by the Government,” the ex-SAS operations officer told The Weekend Australian yesterday. “This war duped the Australian Defence Force and the Australian people in terms of thinking it was in some way legitimate.
Old friend and retired Army Officer, Karl Hartman nails the issue with his letter in todays Australian.
I BELIEVE it is worthwhile asking the chief of the defence force how many SAS majors he has on his staff giving him strategic advice. The answer would be “not many”. You would think that after 25 years, Tinley would have learnt to keep his mouth shut.
Oh, and the term ‘Hero’, at least within miltary circles, is not normally used when discussing recipients of the Order of Australia. These awards are made for exemplorary service and hard and dilgent work in planning or management; not actions in the face of the enemy. Maybe the journalist based the use of Hero on this paragraph
Part of his command was 1 SAS Squadron, which was awarded a US Meritorious Unit citation for its “sustained gallantry”, contributing to a comprehensive success for coalition forces in Iraq.
‘Part of his command was 1 SAS Sqn‘ says he wasn’t the OC of 1 Sqn and as Majors only command at Squadron level, and considering what else was reported, then he was a part of the Special Forces planning staff and had no command function as such. I have not pursued any insider information and thus don’t know exactly waht Peter’s appointment was in Iraq but in reading the article the terms ‘Hero‘ and ‘Part of his command was 1 SAS Sqn’ are misleading. Still, half the front page of the Weekend Australian is good publicity.
Defence, War on Terror

Civil war?

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From my military days I recall this definition of civil war;
civil war: A war between factions of the same country; there are five criteria for international recognition of this status: the contestants must control territory, have a functioning government, enjoy some foreign recognition, have identifiable regular armed forces, and engage in major military operations.
However that would hardly suit the New York Times thus they quote a ‘common scholarly definition‘ has having two main criteria;
The first says that the warring groups must be from the same country and fighting for control of the political center, control over a separatist state or to force a major change in policy. The second says that at least 1,000 people must have been killed in total, with at least 100 from each side.
There now, that’s a lot easier isn’t it? The real definition of civil war al la media is this; One media outlet uses the words civil war in an Iraq war article and a million other editors follow suit. It is now the term du jour for the anti-war brigade. This New York Times article is the first I’ve noticed where they at least attempt the define the term and I would suggest it has been tailored to suit the current kill rate in Iraq. Using that definition I would imagine the American Civil Rights Movement and the settlement of Australia could both be defined as Civil Wars when clearly they were not. The Iraq war may be lots of things but it is not a civil war.
War on Terror

Howard visits Long Tan

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The Prime Minister visited the battle scene at Long Tan yesterday and according to some veterans it wasn’t before time. I must admit I never felt anguished over the fact that a politician hadn’t visited the area but some obviously have and if that makes them happy then good. I note an old aquaintence gets a quote in the article;

For some veterans, such as Graeme “Breaker” Cusack, the first visit to the Long Tan site by an Australian prime minister was “great – but it’s 30 years too late”.

Breaker, a tattooed bikie and ex officer of 6RAR didn’t actually fight at the battle but was on duty at Nui Dat and now lives in Vung Tau as do quiet a few veterans. Married to locals they live the life of Riley with their military pensions putting them clearly in the millionaire status in the third world local economy.

I watched TV last night and wondered how professional journalists can make so many mistakes. Don’t they check anything? According to the journo D COy was ambushed (it was a encounter battle) by a battalion (it was a regiment plus) outside the Nui Dat Airbase (it was a military base).

The developing signifigence of the battle of Long Tan is discussed here by Peter Edwards an official historian of Australia’s involvement in Southeast Asian conflicts.

Vietnam

Poor coordination

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Why couldn’t the people who organize public protests in Melbourne have scheduled these guys to be appear at the same time as these vermin. All those front end buckets could have cleaned up the filth in no time.

Uncategorized

Some musician blasts PM over aid budget

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IRISH rock star Bono has praised John Howard’s management of the domestic economy, but accused him of taking Australia to the bottom of the global league in engagement with the world’s poor.
“What kind of Australia do you want to live in? You’ve got this incredible prosperity – I’ve been coming here for 20 years and I’m in awe of what you have done,” Bono said. But John Howard “has also led your country to the bottom of the league table in terms of engagement with the world’s poor, and I don’t think that’s an Australia people want to live in.”
I guess the Irish musician’s point is we are not allocating foreign aide as he would like. A long time proponent of reinforcing failure by pooring money into African despot’s bank accounts has him ignoring the good we do manage with foreign aid. I’m quiet happy for our foreign aid to be spent in our neighbourhood. We can’t fix every problem in the world but we can impact on the Pacific and as we do we can insist on aid going to the needy. I’m of the opinion that some of the flack we are currently getting from Pacific island leaders is because we are insisting on accountability. I’m also of the opinion that of we allocate more funds elswhere, to the UN or other agencies, then our ability to see the funds spent where they are most needed is hampered. According to one link I’ve found, Foreign Policy, where rich countries are assessed over seven policy areas; Australia is doing her fair share and is certainly performing better that some of the big players. This Commitment to Development Index (CDI) deems our contribution more valuable that Ireland’s so maybe the Irish musician might like to address problems closer to home before he takes us to task. Stick to singing Bozo Bono. UPDATE:  Further reading of the Weekend Australian reveals a review by Patricia Anderson of a book titled “The Triumph of the airheads and the Retreat of Common Sense” by Shelley Gare.  Contained within the review is this observation;
Gare scorns a pheonomenon that, anthropologically speaking, is quiet recent.  This the movie star, a physically appealing individual whose job it is to pretend to be someone else. This has given rise to a certain omnipotence among some who confuse themselves with their parts.  Thus we have to endure stars who think they are poets or intellectuals giving us their views on politics, ethics and religion across obscene page space given by the editors.
I would include musicians in that observation.
Politics

ADF SUPPORT TO TONGA

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After receiving a request from the Government of Tonga on Friday evening, Australia, in conjunction with New Zealand, has deployed military and police personnel to help restore stability.
The New Zealand-led military deployment includes approximately 50 Australian Defence Force personnel. Their mission will be to support the Tongan Security Forces in stabilising the situation following rioting in Nuku’alfoa and to provide a force capable of safely evacuating Australians and other approved nationals if required.
The ADF contribution is drawn primarily from the 1st Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment and includes infantry soldiers and logistic personnel. The above details was quoted from a Defence Media email.  I note in the Australian that 85 personnel have been deployed including 35 federal policemen. They keep us busy, our Pacific cousins, don’t they?
Defence

Change course, Bush urged from all sides

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US President George W.Bush left Washington yesterday bound for the Asian economic summit in Vietnam with advice from left, right and centre ringing in his ears to change course, not only in Iraq but on foreign policy in general. Good Idea. Start with securing the borders of Iraq and then attacking the terrorists lines of supply and if that means destroying the factories from whence they obtain their explosives for IEDs then so be it. In whatever country they are located. The anti-war terrorist appeasement brigade have achieved one of their aims. They can now draw parrallels between Vietnam and Iraq with some degree of truth after the mid-term US elections. In ’72 and ’74 when the South Vietnamese needed support the then Democrat majority denied them hope allowing the Communist North to re-arm courtesy of the USSR and subsequently invade South Vietnam. The assassinations, reducation camps and communists policies resulting in poverty and terror for the remaining millions who couldn’t flee is now history. I would just hope we don’t repeat history just because we have forgotten the past or never understood it in the first place.
Politics, War on Terror

Refugees face new threat of ejection

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THE Howard Government will be able to more easily deport refugees on temporary protection visas after the High Court ruled asylum-seekers were responsible for proving that a return to their homelands would be too dangerous.
More than 630 asylum-seekers from countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Sri Lanka, who have applied for further protection after their TPVs expired, now face a higher risk of deportation. The 4-1 High Court ruling in the parallel cases of two Afghan men found that asylum-seekers asking for further Australian protection must prove their refugee status still exists after their initial three-year visa expires, effectively putting the onus of proof on refugees, rather than the Government.
Makes sense to me but what really makes it clear that it is in the best interests of Australia is this;
Minority judge Michael Kirby described the rulings as parochial and hostile to international law.
International law be damned and what’s wrong with parochial? The High Court adjudicates for Australia – doesn’t it?
General Musings
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