The death of al-Awlaki death officially confirmed.
This is where Obama succeeds – a drone strike every 4 days compared to every 40 days under Bush.
A Reaper drone carrying Hellfire missiles and laser guided bombs can sit for 24 hours, 5 miles high and strike at pin-point accuracy. A formidable weapon in an assymetrical war.
via Andrew Sullivan
The upward blast of an IED often rips off lower limbs as high as the hip, as well as the genitals. … In some cases the perineum, the seam at the bottom of the torso, is ripped open and the intestines and other organs spill out, a Navy combat corpsman told me. One out of five Americans whom the Army medically evacuated from Afghanistan last October suffered such wounds, which the military calls genitourinary, or “GU,” wounds. … According to the Army task force report on severe IED wounds, a number [of troops] have developed “do not resuscitate” pacts in case they suffer traumatic genital amputation.
Not sure I’d be wanting to continue on after suffering “traumatic genital amputation”.
John Key doesn’t like being put under pressure. He comes across as whiny when asked repeated questions about inconsistencies in his story.
Radio NZ: Afghanistan and the SAS
On Friday he was interviewed about the difference in his story on the SAS in Afganistan and Wayne Mapp’s story.
For a man who has handled just about everything this year very well he doesn’t do a great job here.
The left wing used to hate on George W. Bush and his propensity to war. They are strangely silent on the mounting body toll of Obama.
Just five months after a team of Navy SEALS killed Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan, President Obama’s administration claimed yet another kill Friday in its hunt for terrorists abroad. With theassassination of Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born cleric known as the “chief of external operations” for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, new debatehas arisen over whether it’s appropriate for a president to order the killing of a U.S. citizen — and how closely Obama’s policies mirror those if his predecessor, George W. Bush.
Since taking office the president has overseen the killing of a remarkable number of terrorist leaders.
The article then presents a “rogues gallery” of 8 dead terrorists.
Another Kiwi SAS soldier has been killed in Afghanistan:
A second New Zealand SAS soldier has been killed in Afghanistan, Prime Minister John Key has confirmed.
In a press conference at Parliament featuring Key, Defence Minister Wayne Mapp and Defence Force Lieutenant General Rhys Jones, Key said the soldier was shot during an operation in Wardak province, near Kabul, this morning (NZ time).
Key expressed his condolences to the man’s family and the entire Defence Force.
“I deeply regret the loss of our soldiers but I don’t regret the commitment we’ve made to Afghanistan,” he said.
Jones said the operation was still ongoing and the name of the soldier would not be released for 24 hours. The soldier had received a head wound and had been evacuated by helicopter, but died while being operated on.
He was shot during an exchange of rifle fire involving 15 Special Air Service (SAS) soldiers.
Jones said the SAS were reacting to information about a team preparing to launch an attack on Kabul.
The operation began at 9am (NZ time) and one child and a ”fighting-aged” male were also injured.
Key said the SAS faced volatile and dangerous conditions in order to help the people of Afghanistan.
”They are brave, resourceful and resilient and they are making a valuable contribution in Afghanistan.
”He paid the highest price for his service to this country and we will mourn his death.”
On 1 September it was the 60th anniversary of the ANZUS treaty.
Today we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the ANZUS Treaty, which remains a keystone of our relationship with Australia and an enduring force for stability in the wider region.
Few nations share closer ties than Australia and the United States. Australia promptly invoked its alliance obligations following September 11—something Americans will long remember. The brave men and women of our armed forces have fought side by side in every major battle since the First World War. Today, our soldiers, diplomats, and aid workers are working together in Afghanistan. Equally important, we have strengthened our cooperation across other significant challenges – from environmental degradation to our joint commitment to economic development in Africa and the Pacific.
We look forward to welcoming Australian Foreign Minister Rudd, Defense Minister Smith, and their colleagues later this month at the Australia-United States Ministerial (AUSMIN) consultations. AUSMIN will take place at San Francisco’s Presidio complex, where the original ANZUS documents were signed 60 years ago today. We will continue to strengthen this significant alliance in the decades to come.
The only mention of New Zealand in that press release is the two letters in the title of the treaty. With the Wellington Declaration the animosity was supposed to be at an end, looks like the US still doesn’t rate us.
via Andrew Sullivan
Recently there has been news in New Zealand that military procurement has stalled, mainly because some personnel in Defence HQ can’t use Microsoft Project or Google search for a list of procurement solution providers. Mostly they want to run very expensive projects to decided which machine gun to produce, or to select a sniper rifle that will suit New Zealand soldiers as if our requirements are unique in the world. Never mind the US Army and Marine Corps have spent billions of dollars doing the exact same testing and selection.
Worse than that the Ministry of Defence instead of operating a Pharmac style of procurement policy instead pays way over the top for weapons that can be obtained on the open market for half the price.
The army, which does not have many shotguns, decided in 2007 it needed 311 of the weapons but it will not finish ordering them until December next year.
“A shotgun has become increasingly important in stability and support-type operations where a less-lethal capability is required.”
Cabinet had said the army could have 50 sniper rifles at a cost of $2.2 million by next year, but it will now be another two years before it gets them.
An order for 100 new marksmen rifles will not arrive until 2013
These delays are unacceptable and un-necessary. It should take two months not two years to supply 50 sniper rifles. Indeed a SE Asian country just recently took delivery of over 100 sniper rifles and ancillary equipment and they paid half what the NZ Army is being billed for 50 rifles. The Ministry of Defence is essentially feeding the middlemen and meanwhile the troops are missing out on vital equipment. Same goes for machine guns. The specification as supplied by MoD fits only two machine guns in the world. Coincidentally the US Marine Corps just placed an order for 5000 of them, why cant we piggy back behind that order and have our 500 fulfilled inside 6 months instead of the 3 years that is planned? Better still why is the Ministry of Defence planning on letting this contract to a one man band based out of Nelson with no support, no spare parts and inventory?
All this lead to what is increasingly called the Death Star syndrome regarding military procurement.
Adam Rawnsley reports on Lieutenant Colonel Dan Ward’s paper (pdf) using the Death Star as a metaphor for the poor state of DoD acquisition practices:
It’s embarrassing enough that the galaxy’s supposedly most fearsome weapon was felled by crappy duct work. But it was entirely predictable. A project so big and complex, Ward writes, will invariably stretch the oversight capabilities of acquisition staff. In this case, it led to manufacturing delays and prevented the Empire from realizing that one of its thermal exhaust ports was a de-facto self-destruct button. Moreover, for all the expense poured into it – $15.6 septillion and 94 cents, to be precise — the Death Star is destroyed twice and in its two iterations only ever manages to get off a single shot…Star Wars holds lessons about what to buy as well as what not to. Ward contends that the humble droid mechs represent a better acquisition path than Death Stars.
The challenges of military procurement are complex but here in new Zealand we should have none of the issues other, larger countries face, we can simply be fast followers and avoid the hassle and leverage partnership arrangements to get good, cost effective solutions. Instead we are filling the coffers of middle men and agencies who are charging double what the Ministry should be paying.
Felix Marwick has reported that yet more evidence has emerged about Phil Goff’s role in the “gone by lunchtime” non-quote that he shopped tot he nedia against Don Brash.
Leaked US diplomatic cables are casting fresh doubt about the”gone by lunchtime” phrase famously attributed to Don Brash.
A cable written by former Ambassador Bill McCormick in November 2006 said Mr Goff had misquoted a MFAT staffer’s notes when he claimed the then leader of the National Party had promised the anti-nuclear policy would be gone by lunchtime if his party won the election.
Now another embassy cable, from 2004, backs up that assertion.
The summary of the meeting between US officials and Don Brash and Lockwood Smith says the Kiwi politicians did say the legislation had a negative impact on our defence forces.
But the cable says they also offered little hope the New Zealand public would be willing to see the legislation scrapped.
This is now the second Wikileaks cable that proves that Phil Goff either lied about the quote, or he either wilfully or carelessly misquoted Don Brash.
We really are getting a long term pattern of behaviour from Phil Goff now, where he says one thing, evidence then proves him wrong and he spins out of control covering up what he said before.
Phil Goff broke longstanding foreign diplomacy conventions to smear the Leader of the Opposition with ‘Gone By Lunchtime’. This smear was subsequently proved to be a lie by the release of the Wikileaks documents. Now it has been proved wrong again. He defended the breach at the time.
Phil Goff: “If an MFAT official released something that they were not entitled to release, that would be against the internal rules and procedures. In these reports Dr Brash is not a young player, he’s 63 years old. He knows there’s an official recording of what he says. Maybe it was naivety on his part, but I’m afraid that when you indulge in that sort of deceit then you are likely to be caught out.“Q:Is this an example of one law for all?
Phil Goff: “If I’m caught out in anything I say that is not consistent then I should face the consequences.”
Phil Goff should honor his own words. He has been caught out again, just like on the SIS briefing issue. He is constantly being caught out, he must face the consequences.
New Zealand and Australian soldiers have marked the repatriation of SAS commando Doug Grant, who was killed in Afghanistan on Friday.
Defence Force staff from both countries provided a ceremony at the ramp of an Australian Hercules as his coffin was carried on to the plane to be flown back to New Zealand.
A statement from the New Zealand Defence Force thanked their Australian counterparts for helping with “the repatriation of our fallen comrade”.
