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Time Magazine and Aussie SAS

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I received this email from Defence Media this evening.
Time Magazine has today published an article regarding SAS operations in Afghanistan in 2002. Our Special Forces in Afghanistan operated under strict Rules of Engagement, and these included the specific and discriminatory use of force in order to achieve their missions. These rules include and always retain the inherent right of our soldiers to defend themselves and their fellow soldiers if threatened. It is Defence’s policy to not disclose the detail of classified operational activities, in order to preserve operational security and the safety of ADF members and their families, as well as to protect Defence capabilities and procedures. However, in light of the Time Magazine article and having regard to the fact that the action in question was completed over three years ago, Defence can confirm the following: As briefed at the time, a SAS patrol was engaged in a contact in May 2002. A larger SAS force coming to its assistance was also involved in the broader action, after being fired upon. These tactical actions were reviewed after the incident and were determined by Army to be in accordance with the Rules of Engagement. Each Australian element that opened fire, or called in fire, did so in response to direct threats to their safety. Some internal aspects of Patrol K3 were investigated fully at the time and appropriate disciplinary action initiated.
Time may have published the article today but as yet I can’t find it at their website. Maybe the story will be released after midnight. If this is Defence’s answer then the article must be another attack on the poor old soldier. Maybe a Trooper spoke harshly to the enemy. UPDATE: I finally got a link on the story sent to me by Regimental contacts. The Australian quotes the Time article here Summary: Guys are in ambush…armed man approaches appears to ready to use weapon..is shot. Weapon and head gear collected. SOP so far. Other locals start shooting…patrol calls for back up…airstrike…some more killed. Years later a journalist says their civilians.
After the incident, according to the patrol leader quoted by Time, the trooper who found the trophies paraded the dead man’s turban.
Is this a crime? What did he do? I’ve picked gear up and showed it to others. I’ve carried captured weapons and equipment out of the contact area….is this parading dead men’s gear? Must be more to it than this trivia.
When it was confiscated, the accused Australian trooper and three other SAS men on the patrol complained to senior officers that the leader had made poor decisions under fire and put men at risk.
Sounds like a bit of bickering between fired up troops and it makes Time Magazine. How desparate are the MSM to fault the military.
The patrol leader denied the claims, but the major commanding Three Squadron, Vance Khan, segregated the whole patrol and took its members off operational duties.
Yeah, whatever.
Defence

Aussie dumps on Oz

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Robert Goodfellow is a Wollongong-based Indonesian specialist presently teaching at the Mount Eliza Program of Melbourne Business School. He might be an Indonesian specialist but I’m not sure he’s an Australian specialist Robert gets an article published in the Jakarta Post as an editorial where he explains why Australians are so up in arms about Schapelle Corby Check this out.
Australians believe that Schapelle Corby is a victim. This is because many Australians feel they are victims too. They are edgy, angry and confused by the fundamental insecurity of living in a rapidly changing society and an increasingly dangerous world. At home they are nervous about the disintegration of essential services like health and education and public transport. They are terrified of an interest rate rise. They are apprehensive about the government’s sweeping industrial relations reforms. And, above all, they are worried they might not have a job next week.
I feel an appointmet with my Psychiatrist is imminent. I didn’t realize I was worried about so many things. I thought my only concern was the disparity between Scapelle’s sentence and that handed down to the JI leader for the Bali bombing. Seems I’m wrong. This is what the Indonesians are being fed. Robert, who obviously has a problem with Australia, Australians and, me thinks, with the current government, suggests to the millions of Jakarta Post readers that Australia is completely populated with left-wing undergrads. Thanks for nothing Robert. Read the complete article here
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Douglas Wood Update

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Al-Mendhar reports on the Aussie hostage still held captive in Iraq and quote The Australian Grand Mufti as saying – The Hostage was Transported to a Safe Place
Sydney: Sheikh Taj Eddin Al Hilali, Grand Mufti of Muslims in Australia, said that Iraqi clans’ chiefs have informed him that the Australian hostage Douglas Wood has been transported to a safer place and that he has to return to Baghdad to release Wood.
More here
War on Terror

ASC wins Air Warfare Destroyer contract

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The Federal Government has chosen ASC Shipbuilder Pty Ltd as the preferred shipbuilder for Navy’s Air Warfare Destroyers (AWDs) – one of Australia’s largest and most complex Defence projects worth up to $6 billion.
Senator Hill said the Government made the decision after accepting the unanimous recommendation of the Source Selection Board on the basis that ASC Shipbuilders offered a superior bid in terms of value for money. In addition, the Government has granted first pass approval and provided $455 million towards the next phase of activities including further design work, workforce skilling, initial infrastructure investment and facilities construction. The construction of the Air Warfare Destroyers will be one of the most significant shipbuilding projects undertaken in Australia to date, and will provide enormous opportunities for Australian industry. “More than 1000 direct jobs will be created in South Australia as part of the build contract however, up to 70% of the module construction will be sub-contracted to other shipyards around Australia creating around 1000 additional jobs throughout the country.
Defence is currently evaluating three ship designer proposals from Blohm +Voss, Gibbs &Cox and Navantia (formerly Izar). ASC Shipbuilder is now in a position to assist the Commonwealth to select one of those designers in mid 2005, whose evolved design will be further considered in conjunction with an Australianised version of Spain’s existing F100 ship design. Ministerial Release in full here
Defence

Funerals and Pay Days

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In June, 2004 I travelled through Arnhem Land and was priveledged to visit an outstation south of Nuhlunbuy. This came to mind this last night when watching Lateline (transcript not available yet) where one of the contributors, talking about cultural difficulties in employing young aborigines in the mining industry, mentioned funerals as a particularly difficult point in employment and cross-culture problems. My writings from that trip illustrate why.
We went down to an outstation and witnessed the setting up of a funeral for an elder that had just died. The locals build a new purpose-built village with shade and a centre mourning hut to accommodate the deceased elder. Due to respect for their traditions and customs I decided not to take photos but the expense, effort and time taken to farewell elders was enormous. Water reticulation and power are supplied. Builders and other tradesmen are busy around the site and all the clans-people are involved in the build-up. The clan is tied up for two weeks. Kids at boarding schools down south (the chosen few) miss school. Commerce normally conducted by the clan ceases to operate (if there is any) and a two-week sit-down phase starts.
My co-traveller, a teacher in a school with Aborigine boarders has difficulty reconciling this event with his need to play his part in preparing the young for the future. It impacts severely on education as in large clans there are a lot of funerals per academic year. I’m the first to demand and expect respect for our elders and ancestors but when my Father died I was as saddened as any man and although I grieved for a long time, and still do, it never occured to me to stop working for two weeks to commemorate his passing. The world goes on… kids need feeding and mortgages need paying. Therein lies the problem. It is the white society that provides the commerce and employment. Cultures need to change to fit a developing society and the fact that the Australian Aboriginal society hasn’t grasped that yet is their problem and not ours. We can only advise, and yes, I know it’s a quantum leap for them but it has to be made. Pat Dodson, a good man witha difficult job, spoke on the ‘sharing’ tribespeople where one in work shares the wages with others not working…extended family stuff. The program mentioned this as a problem and suggested, maybe, that locals employed by a mining company might like to have their money depositied directly into a bank account to avoid the old problem of ‘what’s mine is yours’ when the worker got back to his clan on payday. Pat lost me when he stated that this simply didn’t happen and it was just a story put around by people putting down on his people. Pat, it does happen, Ive seen it and it is a problem. Denial is no answer. Howard moves along, ignoring calls for an apology and in doing so has moved the debate on from mere words to action where win-win outcomes for both tribes, white and black, are more likely.
Uncategorized

Funerals and Pay Days

Posted on by
In June, 2004 I travelled through Arnhem Land and was priveledged to visit an outstation south of Nuhlunbuy. This came to mind this last night when watching Lateline (transcript not available yet) where one of the contributors, talking about cultural difficulties in employing young aborigines in the mining industry, mentioned funerals as a particularly difficult point in employment and cross-culture problems. My writings from that trip illustrate why.
We went down to an outstation and witnessed the setting up of a funeral for an elder that had just died. The locals build a new purpose-built village with shade and a centre mourning hut to accommodate the deceased elder. Due to respect for their traditions and customs I decided not to take photos but the expense, effort and time taken to farewell elders was enormous. Water reticulation and power are supplied. Builders and other tradesmen are busy around the site and all the clans-people are involved in the build-up. The clan is tied up for two weeks. Kids at boarding schools down south (the chosen few) miss school. Commerce normally conducted by the clan ceases to operate (if there is any) and a two-week sit-down phase starts.
My co-traveller, a teacher in a school with Aborigine boarders has difficulty reconciling this event with his need to play his part in preparing the young for the future. It impacts severely on education as in large clans there are a lot of funerals per academic year. I’m the first to demand and expect respect for our elders and ancestors but when my Father died I was as saddened as any man and although I grieved for a long time, and still do, it never occured to me to stop working for two weeks to commemorate his passing. The world goes on… kids need feeding and mortgages need paying. Therein lies the problem. It is the white society that provides the commerce and employment. Cultures need to change to fit a developing society and the fact that the Australian Aboriginal society hasn’t grasped that yet is their problem and not ours. We can only advise, and yes, I know it’s a quantum leap for them but it has to be made. Pat Dodson, a good man with a difficult job, spoke on the ’sharing’ tribespeople where one in work shares the wages with others not working…extended family stuff. The program mentioned this as a problem and suggested, maybe, that locals employed by a mining company might like to have their money depositied directly into a bank account to avoid the old problem of ‘what’s mine is yours’ when the worker got back to his clan on payday. Pat lost me when he stated that this simply didn’t happen and it was just a story put around by people putting down on his people. Pat, it does happen, Ive seen it and it is a problem. Denial is no answer. Howard moves along, ignoring calls for an apology and in doing so has moved the debate on from mere words to action where win-win outcomes for both tribes, white and black, are more likely.
Uncategorized

IR Reforms

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Queensland senator-elect Barnaby Joyce looks for publicity prior to taking his seat in the Senate. Might I also add, prior to his being told, in mono-syllabic terms, just how government works. The ABC are besides themselves with glee as a conservative politician disagrees with Howard and News.com headlines scream ” Coalition Mutiny over IR Reforms”. No, it’s government in action. Barnaby-Joyce is definitely against;
“…. allowing the middle management of a big company to go out and sack (someone) without giving that person a reason why, or allowing the person to put their case.”
What has that statement to do with the IR Reforms Howard is talking about? And from Strewth in the Australian;
EMPLOYMENT Minister Kevin Andrews had fun in parliament yesterday recounting an ABC interview last Friday where people expressed their concerns about the Government’s industrial relations reforms. Among them was one Fran Tierney, who lamented that her wage of $16 an hour would be cut to between $5 and $6. Andrews said Tierney had obviously not read the package, which guarantees the minimum rates would not be reduced. He also noted she had not disclosed she was the NSW deputy president of the Australian Services Union and the president of the Community and Social Services sector. Or that as a councillor for the Lane Cove Council she supplements her working wage to the tune of $1000 a month. Gotcha.
Tell any lie and tell it often. The States are positioning themselves for a fight as Howard talks of centralizing IR. State Conservatives and Labor alike, it’s either an ideolical or power grab to them. As the battle develops we will hear a lot of lies and emotive, union-speak arguements from the Union movement but in the end the people will be able see that it is power that the unions leaders fight for, and not necessarily the welfare of their members.
Politics

Memorial Day USA

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ribbon_small2.gif Today is Memorial Day in the US where they commemorate the service of veterans from all the wars they have fought.
Subsequent to World War 1 and associated with the burial of an “Unknown Soldier” in Arlington Cemetry, 11 November became known as Armistice Day , as it was every where else in the world, and recognized the war dead from WW1. The day later become known as Veterans Day and the day when the US commemorates their war dead from all conflicts. Fifty years earlier, in 1868, Union General John A. Logan designated a day in which the graves of Civil War soldiers would be decorated. First known as Decoaration Day it was changed to Memorial Day some 20 years later. In 1915, inspired by the poem “In Flanders Fields,” Moina Michael replied with her own poem: poppy
We cherish too, the Poppy red That grows on fields where valor led, It seems to signal to the skies That blood of heroes never dies.
She then conceived of an idea to wear red poppies on Memorial day in honor of those who died serving the nation during war. She was the first to wear one, and sold poppies to her friends and co-workers with the money going to benefit servicemen in need. So, like Australia, there are two days on the US National calendar devoted to war dead. Tomorrow, Memorial Day, is one of them and the day when they wear poppies. To all Americans, there are many in Australia who recognize your service to the world and pause with you to remember those who made the supreme sacrifice. You Defence Forces are under seige now from the terrorists in many parts of the world and from your own Media but stay the distance and the world will be a better place. Mudville Gazette has a post on the subject and quotes a poem written last Christmas in Baghdad.
Saluting fallen friends whose names And youth will never fade Here’s to those on other shores, for them live well, the price is paid
Have a good day.
Defence
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