http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/ian-mcphedran/ Ian McPhedran is the National Defence Writer for News Limited. He covered the diplomatic round in Canberra for several years and is the author of the best selling books ``The Amazing SAS’’ and ``Soldiers Without Borders’‘. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/dont-ignore-the-insights-gained-in-the-heat-of-battle/ It has been almost 600 days since 28-year-old Lance Corporal Jared MacKinney from Brisbane was killed in action in Afghanistan. The new dad was shot in the upper body by a single enemy round during the Battle of Derapet in the Tangi Valley on August 24, 2010. Following the battle one of his close mates in the Mentoring Task Force wrote a detailed email in which he claimed that with better fire support from mortars, artillery and light armoured vehicles, Lance Corporal MacKinney might not have been killed. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Ian McPhedran) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/dont-ignore-the-insights-gained-in-the-heat-of-battle/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/dont-ignore-the-insights-gained-in-the-heat-of-battle/#item7670 Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:00:47 +0000 Ian McPhedran | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/another-rogue-afghan-soldier-not-proof-of-sleeper-insurgency/ The latest shooting of three Australian and two Afghan soldiers by a disgruntled Afghan comrade will intensify calls for our 1550 troops to be withdrawn immediately. Details of the incident are sketchy, but given that the shooter escaped in a vehicle it is safe to assume that he was not a jihadist fanatic on a one-way suicide mission. That was certainly not the case 10 days ago when an Afghan called Darwish opened fire at close range at Forward Operating Base Pacemaker in northern Kandahar Province killing Captain Bryce Duffy, 26, Corporal Ashley Birt, 22, and Lance Corporal Luke Gavin, 27. Darwish had shaved and cleansed his body and dressed in white clothing to prepare for his journey into the next life following his murderous mission. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Ian McPhedran) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/another-rogue-afghan-soldier-not-proof-of-sleeper-insurgency/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/another-rogue-afghan-soldier-not-proof-of-sleeper-insurgency/#item7111 Wed, 09 Nov 2011 00:20:34 +0000 Ian McPhedran | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/afghanistan-we-honour-the-fallen-by-staying-the-course/ As another Australian family endures the soul-destroying grief of the loss of a young son in Afghanistan - the fourth in a week -  the debate about the nation’s role in the campaign has shifted into fraught territory. Some surveys show that the majority of Australians want the troops to be brought home immediately. Our political leaders say we must hold our nerve and harden our resolve for more losses in the weeks ahead. Given that only two of the four latest casualties, Sgt Brett Wood and special-forces combat engineer Rowan Jaie Robinson, were killed in action fighting the Taliban the bipartisan position is the right one for a host of reasons.  feedback@thepunch.com.au (Ian McPhedran) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/afghanistan-we-honour-the-fallen-by-staying-the-course/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/afghanistan-we-honour-the-fallen-by-staying-the-course/#item6030 Tue, 07 Jun 2011 20:00:05 +0000 Ian McPhedran | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-loss-of-brave-young-men-is-becoming-hard-to-justify/ Jamie Larcombe is the fifth Australian Army combat engineer to be killed in action in Afghanistan. He is also the first to be shot during a firefight rather than blown up by an insurgent’s improvised explosive device (IED). The engineers are a tight-knit and dedicated group of soldiers who bring a raft of skills and a great deal of courage to the fight against the Taliban. The Darwin based 1st Combat Engineer Regiment has now lost two of its best within a fortnight following the death of Corporal Richard Atkinson at the hands of an enemy bomb maker. In addition to the five KIA they have also suffered much higher rates of injury as they take the lead role whenever a patrol leaves the security of an operating base. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Ian McPhedran) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-loss-of-brave-young-men-is-becoming-hard-to-justify/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-loss-of-brave-young-men-is-becoming-hard-to-justify/#item5186 Sun, 20 Feb 2011 20:00:54 +0000 Ian McPhedran | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Afghanistan-is-one-of-many-challenges-for-2011/ Afghanistan, an uncertain world, and regional instability will make 2011 a challenging year for the Australian Defence Force. The campaign in Afghanistan will dominate the military landscape this year as Australia and the other 44 nations involved in the International Assistance Force (ISAF) struggle to develop a workable exit strategy for the eight-year conflict. Prime Minister Julia Gillard has flagged a further decade-long involvement for Australian troops, but such a commitment will become increasingly difficult to justify as casualties mount during the coming fighting season. Pressure will build for a complete withdrawal once the training role is complete in Oruzgan Province (about 2014) where most of the 1550 Australians are working. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Ian McPhedran) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Afghanistan-is-one-of-many-challenges-for-2011/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Afghanistan-is-one-of-many-challenges-for-2011/#item4847 Fri, 07 Jan 2011 20:00:02 +0000 Ian McPhedran | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/is-the-militar-using-warships-to-smuggle-drugs/ News that up to 21 navy sailors were allegedly running a drug ring from the Garden Island Navy base in Sydney, and that about 30 more were possibly involved in distributing the contraband, has shone the spotlight into a dark corner of military life. With recent raids uncovering illicit drugs including steroids, heroin, cocaine and ecstasy, the extent of drug trafficking and substance abuse by military personnel is now being exposed and it is not a pretty picture. The vast majority of navy, army and air force personnel are clean living, law abiding citizens, but for those who aren’t there are many opportunities to take advantage of their status as returning warriors and their mode of military transport to import illegal material. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Ian McPhedran) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/is-the-militar-using-warships-to-smuggle-drugs/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/is-the-militar-using-warships-to-smuggle-drugs/#item4816 Tue, 04 Jan 2011 19:45:41 +0000 Ian McPhedran | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/oz-israel-relations-hit-new-low-as-canberra-expels-spy/ Australia-Israeli relations have not come under this much pressure since the bungling spook and lothario Amir Laty was thrown out of Canberra in 2003. Faking Australian passports is arguably a more serious offence than trying (mostly unsuccessfully) to seduce female officials and cultivating the daughter of then Attorney General Philip Ruddock. That is what Laty did before he got his marching orders. In Canberra’s leafy diplomatic neighbourhood of Yarralumla yesterday a senior Israeli diplomat, who is almost certainly a spy, was told to pack his or her bags for Tel Aviv. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Ian McPhedran) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/oz-israel-relations-hit-new-low-as-canberra-expels-spy/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/oz-israel-relations-hit-new-low-as-canberra-expels-spy/#item3148 Mon, 24 May 2010 05:52:32 +0000 Ian McPhedran | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/mossad-assasination-australia-israel/ After a torrent of undiplomatic language in the days after they discovered that Israel had used forged Australian passports in the assassination plot against a terrorist gun dealer in Dubai, Kevin Rudd and Stephen Smith have fallen silent. The British Government has stepped up its diplomatic offensive against Tel Aviv over the passport scandal by expelling Mossad’s London station chief, but Canberra has so far not followed suit although we have abstained from a vote in the United Nations. Britain has a much more robust tradition of hard headed diplomacy than Australia. Our diplomats are trained to whisper and dance a two-step with the devil rather than risk the megaphone and a public confrontation. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Ian McPhedran) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/mossad-assasination-australia-israel/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/mossad-assasination-australia-israel/#item2720 Sun, 28 Mar 2010 19:40:29 +0000 Ian McPhedran | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/behind-the-no-nonsense-world-of-israeli-security/ To the casual observer the Israeli embassy in Canberra looks like any other diplomatic mission in the leafy suburbs of Deakin and Yarralumla. Appearances can be deceiving. The inside of Israel’s chancery building is more like a mini-fortress than the well-to-do family home visible from the street. Visitors are treated with all the caution you would expect from the world’s most suspicious and fearful regime whose enemies are everywhere, even quiet and peaceful Canberra. There are no friendly receptionists offering cups of tea and visitors are greeted by lean looking men with crew cuts and bulges under their arms, ear pieces permanently in place. There are no smiles, no small talk, just searches, scans and an array of CCTV cameras. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Ian McPhedran) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/behind-the-no-nonsense-world-of-israeli-security/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/behind-the-no-nonsense-world-of-israeli-security/#item2498 Fri, 26 Feb 2010 03:46:44 +0000 Ian McPhedran | Author bios | The Punch