Afghanistan

In yet another attack by a ‘rogue’ Afghan soldier, four French troops were shot dead last week.

Proponents of the current post-modern war fighting doctrine continue to believe we can make people love us.  Counterinsurgency has been a convenient doctrine swallowed by Western leaders as a politically correct way to fight a war. But it is built on the well-meaning principle of “hearts and minds” when it is nothing more than an unhealthy blend of social engineering and pork-barrel politics. 

The fact is in Afghanistan they love you until the money stops and even then, as the latest incidents show, nothing will bridge the cultural divide.

Continue reading "In Afghanistan trust no one and question everything" »

What happened
Our biggest wartime horror in a long time. Three diggers and their Afghan interpreter were killed and seven other Aussie troops wounded when an Afghan army ally turned his weapon on them.

This was not the first time that an Afghan colleague attacked Australian soldiers this year and nor was it the last. Lance Corporal Andrew Jones was killed by an Afghan soldier as he came out of his base accommodation in May. And just last month three diggers and two Afghans were wounded when an Afghan soldier opened fire from a guard tower with an automatic weapon and grenade launcher.

What happened next
A serious erosion of trust between Australian troops and their Afghan allies.

Continue reading "Biggest moments of 2011 #8 Afghans turn on Aussies" »

It’s Remembrance Day. And this year, we have more to remember than ever.

Ashley Birt, 22. Bryce Duffy, 26. Luke Gavin, 29. Rowan Robinson, 23. Todd Langley, 35. They’re all diggers killed in Afghanistan, and that’s just since June.

While we’re remembering them though, we need to jog our memories a little further. Because over the course of this Very Long War in Afghanistan, there’s a lot that we’ve forgotten.

Continue reading "As we remember our fallen, we forget why we went to war" »

The recent string of casualties inflicted on Australian trainers by their Afghan students is part of the ongoing tragedy of war. It is also not making the job of selling the Afghan War to the Australian population any easier.

A recent Roy Morgan poll says that 72 per cent of Australians want to withdraw the troops. That’s good because we are, of course, going to withdraw and our casualties must be seen in that context. The withdrawal date is already set as 2014 and barring some strategic change, our combat troops will leave.

The Prime Minister has announced that there will be an ongoing training commitment to Afghanistan, but the detail is unclear. Of course, if there were no consequences for the withdrawal of our troops, they would have been withdrawn long ago.

Continue reading "Afghanistan: It is the manner of our leaving that matters" »

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.

Continue reading "Another rogue Afghan not proof of ‘sleeper’ insurgency" »

Writer, comedian and Can of Worms reporter Dan Ilic visited Aussie diggers in Afghanistan last month to perform a series of comedy shows. He writes about his time in Tarin Kowt in this second part of a two-part report. Read the first part here.

The next stop on the trip was the Australian stronghold of Tarin Kowt.

We flew there on an Australian Chinook, a large transport helicopter that can fit about 40 soldiers and gear. This was an amazing journey. Flying tactically, we buzzed across the Afghan terrain only about a hundred metres off the ground, hugging the valleys and mountains for cover.

In the back of my head I knew that only a few weeks before an American Chinook got shot down carrying 30 Special Forces troops. But somehow this was suppressed by the sheer excitement of being in a big loud flying machine.

Continue reading "Operation Your Mum: On the ground in Tarin Kowt" »

Writer, comedian and Can of Worms reporter Dan Ilic visited Aussie diggers in Afghanistan last month to perform a series of comedy shows. Today, he writes about what he saw and experienced, in the first of a two-part report.

Here are some tips for comedians. Never try out new jokes to a hostile crowd. If you do, keep it short.

Whatever you do, don’t go out to an unfamiliar audience and give them 15 minutes of new material you wrote just for them until you’ve actually learnt all the jokes. I did this recently on stage in front of a crowd of about 50.

I could tell the gig was going to be dull. It’s called Funny Shui: the audience all self-consciously sit as far away as possible from the stage. I couldn’t even make eye contact with this group. Showtime.

Continue reading "My Kandahar comedy show that literally bombed" »

Three more Australians are dead, and seven injured, in Afghanistan. It’s even more tragic because it appears the killer was an Afghan soldier, a colleague. Follow the news at news.com.au. Nathan Mullins spent time with the Australian Special Forces in Oruzgan, and this is his perspective on the many questions that beset Australia about our role in Afghanistan.

What are ‘we’ doing in Afghanistan? People ask me whether we can win the war. That’s not the important question. The question is whether we should be trying to ‘win’ in the first place. But before that the question is: who’s ‘we’? We the Coalition, we the Australian Army, we Australians, or indeed, we the western world? It’s a long way from Melbourne to Afghanistan, both geographically and figuratively, but when I had the chance to fight in the hills and valleys of Uruzgan with the Australian Special Forces, I did it. I needed to know if ‘we’ should be there.

When I decided to go I thought I represented the Australian Army. While I was there I realized that the people of Afghanistan feel isolated from the rest of the world. They didn’t see me as an Australian soldier, or an Australian really, they saw me as a citizen of a world that was so foreign to them as to barely exist.

Continue reading "We are doing the right thing in Afghanistan" »

In her excoriating review of David Hicks’ memoir My Journey, ABC reporter and author Leigh Sales begins with the following assessment of the blame-shifting psychology of the former Taliban recruit:

“A sentence near the end of this controversial book encapsulates David Hicks’s attitude to his stay at Guantanamo Bay on terrorism-related charges:‘Any and all inconvenience . . . was brought about due to my incarceration and treatment and that was at the hands of others.’

“In other words, Hicks eschews personal responsibility. Guantanamo: My Journey is a flawed memoir, chiefly because of an astonishing lack of self-reflection.”

Continue reading "Maybe Dave just shouldn’t have joined the Taliban" »

Yesterday, News Ltd national defence writer Ian McPhedran argued that it’s our moral duty to stay the course in Afghanistan, both to honour fallen diggers and for the sake of the mission itself. Many ordinary people took exception, arguing the best way to honour the fallen is to withdraw from the whole exercise.

In any war in which Australia is involved, mainstream public figures rarely question our commitment to the conflict. To do so is seen as the equivalent of saying the fallen died for nothing.

Ordinary people know better. In war, as in life, the ground shifts. The perfectly valid reason you got involved several years back may no longer hold up today. Funny thing is, war movies have long echoed this theme. Maybe it’s time our leaders took a trip to the video store…

Continue reading "Six famous war films, and their lessons for our leaders" »

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. 

Continue reading "Afghanistan: We honour the fallen by staying the course" »

Australian Soldiers are the strongest tribe in Uruzgan Province and it is this profile that wins hearts and minds in Afghanistan, not well-meaning gestures of handing out bags of money.

It is that strategic change over the last 18 months that is now paying off in Uruzgan. Afghans respond to what some may call traditional characteristics of bravery, courage, honour and revenge. They are also very polite, even though tomorrow they may kill you. If you could bring back Alexander the Great, he would say we are fighting the same people, using the same tactics they used against him 2,000 years ago.

Despite what Australia’s David Kilcullen, the architect of this new pop military version of counterinsurgency (COIN), will have you believe, this is not about a kindler gentler war. There has been a grave misrepresentation of COIN. In fact, unlike author of The Strongest Tribe former Marine Commander Bing West, who has spent endless nights bunkered down under fire with troops, I doubt whether Kilcullen would have been to very far off Route One.

Continue reading "Strength, not kindness, will win Afghan hearts & minds" »

The deaths of another two Australian diggers in Afghanistan will not weaken the Government’s resolve to stay the course, Prime Minister Julia Gillard has vowed.

But the particular nature of one of those deaths - a violent betrayal which saw 25-year-old Lance Corporal Andrew Jones shot dead by a supposedly friendly Afghan National Army soldier who had been trained by Australia - has sent shockwaves through the defence forces.

Trust between the two militaries has been severely shaken.

Continue reading "Each death in Afghanistan is another test of faith" »

Osama bin Laden isn’t dead. For all we know he’s lying low in Vegas, possibly with Elvis, or living at Ronald Biggs’ old place in Rio.

Even if they produced images of bin Laden’s body, there is every chance the photographs could have been doctored.

And even if they produced the body itself, there’s no way of being 100 per cent sure that it’s actually his corpse anyway.

Continue reading "Not everyone is celebrating Osama Bin Laden’s demise" »

The death of Osama Bin Laden will make no difference to global terrorism inspired by Islamic fundamentalism, and it will have scant impact on the war in Afghanistan. 

But the way that the US killed Osama Bin Laden needs recognition; it was the sort of precise, human intelligence-driven operation that must be employed ruthlessly in Afghanistan to capture or kill insurgent leaders as we enter another fighting season.

Al-Qaida has not been about Osama bin Laden for quite some time and the Taliban in Afghanistan have not received support from al-Qaida or Osama Bin Laden since the end of initial operations in 2001.  The global Islamic terrorist movement is now a leaderless jihad and is more likely to come from a young IT whiz-kid in his bedroom in one of our leafy suburbs than from an old man hiding in the mountains of the AfPak border. 

Continue reading "Terror: Coming to a leafy suburb near you" »

“We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.”

“Ragheads’‘, “dune coons’‘, “sand niggaz’’ and “smelly locals’‘. Last night we were exposed to ADF soldiers with experience in Afghanistan acting in prejudicial, discriminatory, racist ways. That is what we call it in the civilian world.

A group of soldiers, some who have served overseas in contemporary conflicts, and apparently some who are serving, have allegedly posted their discontent on the social networking site Facebook. They have expressed their disdain, their hatred of the Afghanis, their racist and pejorative perspective of those they are charged to ‘liberate’ and their insubordination to their boss, Lieutenant General Gillespie.

Continue reading "Soldiers’ comments racist, disgusting, embarrassing" »

The stomach clenches with a cold nausea. The lip curls in disgust. It’s the same visceral reaction I had to pictures like the one below that emerged from Abu Ghraib; the images that made the idea of winning hearts and minds in Iraq a cruel joke.

Now, Der Spiegel has published three pictures of US soldiers, posing with the bodies of civilians they allegedly killed.  One grins. The German news magazine says it has thousands more ‘trophy shots’.

The soldiers are described as ‘rogue’ – as opposed to ‘sanctioned’. But of course this is just another one-off atrocity. Isn’t it? Just Americans, right?

Not right. Not one off.

Continue reading "Rogue soldiers shine light on Army’s dark side" »

From working with U.S forces in Afghanistan, many Commanders observed how Afghanistan had become a politically correct war. 

Ralph Peters hit the nail on the head in his 2006 New York Post article when he observed that it is hard enough to bear the timidity of our civilian leaders - anxious to start wars but without the guts to finish them - but now military leaders have fallen prey to political correctness. 

Unwilling to accept that war is, by its nature, a savage act and that defeat is immoral, influential officers are arguing for a kinder, gentler approach to our enemies. 

Continue reading "Our politically correct war in Afghanistan" »

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.

Continue reading "The loss of brave young men is becoming hard to justify" »

Tony Abbott’s suggestion of cutting aid to Indonesia to fund Queensland flood reconstruction was met with immediate fury from aid experts, who declared the decision morally bankrupt.

Yet Mr Abbott’s announcement has raised an important issue that should not simply be brushed under the carpet: the need for aid effectiveness.

When he announced the proposed cut, Mr Abbott said funding would be “deferred” subject to a full review of the effectiveness of the program.

Continue reading "Let’s be smarter about the way we deliver aid" »

One of the terrific luxuries of life in the democratic west is that we are free to write and say pretty much anything we like about our elected representatives.

In the space of one day this week, we saw a powerful demonstration of how blasé and indulgent some of us can be in exercising that freedom.

In Egypt, thousands of people have taken to the streets to demand the removal of a politician who for 18 years has resisted any shift towards democracy, and is still refusing to stand aside.

Continue reading "S**t does happen when democracies get lazy" »

Senior Liberals rallied around embattled Opposition Leader Tony Abbott yesterday in the wake of the ``shit-gate’’ controversy, ensuring his position remains safe. For now.

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But the incident - or rather the two incidents, his initial comment and his botched explanation of it - have done nothing good for his hopes of becoming the first Liberal since Robert Menzies, to lead his party to an election, after losing the previous one.

Importantly, it was a pair of his more ambitious senior frontbenchers, rivals, Joe Hockey and Andrew Robb who led his public defence. The former is shadow treasurer, the latter wants his job

Continue reading "Abbott’s s**t-gate may yet hit a target" »

The intonation is crucial.

Australians use the phrase in two quite different ways, and the clue to whether what Mr Abbott said in Afghanistan was disrespectful or not lies in the modulation of his voice.

Did he say ‘shit happens’, meaning ‘get over it, suck it up, spilt milk’? Or did he say ‘shit happens’, meaning ‘nothing could have been done, it was fate, or God’s will.’

Continue reading "Did Abbott say ‘shit happens’, or ‘shit happens’?" »

Update: Tony Abbott has contacted the wife of the fallen soldier Mrs Beckie MacKinney: “It was an honour to speak with her again. I thoroughly discussed the Channel 7 report with her and don’t believe that there are any issues between us. That’s where this matter should now rest.” The Australian Defence Association has rushed to Mr Abbott’s defence, saying his comments were taken out of context. 

If you missed the Seven News story this evening on Tony Abbott’s comments in Afghanistan late last year, you can read about the story here.

The fact that when discussing the death of an Australian soldier he uttered the words “shit happens” is, in of itself, something that Tony Abbott could explain away. The problem was his complete lack of explanation and the subsequent bizarre effect it had upon the viewer.

This kind of media induced self-destruction is the kind of thing Labor has always assumed would happen with the opposition leader, but, with Abbott’s new found discipline, the moment just never came. Until now.

Continue reading "Is this the Abbott-killer that Labor’s been waiting for?" »

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.

Continue reading "Afghanistan is one of many challenges for 2011" »

It’s quite sad the questions people ask when they hear you’ve just been in Afghanistan performing comedy shows for our troops.

“Were you scared?”

“Did you get shot at?”

“Was it hot?” 

Continue reading "Don’t mention the war - it’s about the troops" »

News that our Diggers have rejected Kevin Rudd’s pessimistic view of the war in Afghanistan is no surprise.

A foreign minister who derides the French and German contribution to the conflict as nothing more than ‘organising folk dancing festivals’ when each nation has suffered nearly 50 casualties is insensitive and out of touch.

Like our European friends Australia’s participation in Afghanistan is part of a broader international effort that is making considerable progress.

Continue reading "Why Australia must stay the course in Afghanistan" »

Here’s some of what the Prime Minister Julia Gillard told the Parliament on October 19 this year (you can read her whole speech starting on page 692 here):

To ensure the new international strategy can be delivered, last December the United States committed to a military and civilian surge in Afghanistan. The elements of this surge are now reaching full strength. Once fully deployed, this will take coalition force numbers to roughly 140,000. US forces on the ground have tripled since early 2009. The total force now has the resources required to deliver a comprehensive international strategy focused on counterinsurgency and designed to deliver transition.

Continue reading "Gillard deserves the benefit of the doubt on Afghanistan" »

In October 2007 two unarmed Iraqi women were shot and killed by private military contractors working for Unity Resources Group (URG), the same firm that now guards the Australian embassy in Baghdad. 

Just over a year earlier, contractors from the same company shot and killed a 72 year old Australian academic for failing to stop at a checkpoint.

The Defence Department recently told a Senate committee it was aware of the incidents when it awarded URG the embassy contract, but based on third party reports from “American, Iraqi and British authorities” decided the shootings were justified.

Continue reading "Private military firms need greater scrutiny" »

A common saying in Afghanistan is “we’ve got the watches they’ve got the time.”  A perfect metaphor to describe the Western obsession time and the Taliban’s eternal patience.  That is why U.S Secretary of Defence, Robert Gates’ statement that the United States will not be leaving Afghanistan is exactly the message to send to the Taliban.  If you don’t have the time don’t start a war in Afghanistan.

The simplicity of life in Afghanistan is also a camouflage for the Afghan’s ability to withstand asymmetrical threats from the climate, terrain or a foreign military.  We have failed to recognise their historical capacity to adapt.  Ahmed Rashid, one of the best contemporary authors on Afghanistan, suggests that the devastation of the Soviet invasion and subsequent civil war influenced the Taliban state of mind.  The longer we engage the more they evolve – both politically and violently.

They know they don’t have to win the war.  They just have to outlast our domestic time constraints and out-govern Karzai and his corrupt Provincial representatives.

Continue reading "We’ve got the watches, they’ve got the time" »

I have listened with great interest to this week’s parliamentary debate about Australia’s involvement in Afghanistan, just as I have listened with great interest to this debate for the past nine years, since October 7th, 2001, when Operation Enduring Freedom was launched by the United States and its allies, including Australia, so that freedom so bravely won by the people of Afghanistan from communist oppression, and so cruelly lost over the following decade to civil war and Taliban misrule, may indeed return, and this time endure.

I have listened to this debate and heard many arguments that we should abandon our mission in Afghanistan. 

Some of these arguments are passionate, others cold and rational; some seem sincere, while others callous. And all of them are wrong.

Continue reading "Ending Afghanistan will aid a monstrous regime" »

A lot of people who questioned the need for a parliamentary debate on Australia’s military commitment in Afghanistan said we’d just end up with a whole heap of MPs agreeing we’re doing the right thing and we’re doing it the right way.

Indeed despite their stylistic differences, Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott’s speeches to open the debate were almost interchangeable in their messages and conclusions - although the Prime Minister did admit for the first time we might be there a lot longer than she’d ever fessed up to before.

But even though there is broad bi-partisan support for our mission in Afghanistan, there has been some dissenters, and also some interesting ideas thrown up during the discussion, like the proposition by Shadow Finance Minister Andrew Robb this afternoon.

Continue reading "A call for military accountability" »

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has shown she is not the surrendering type when it comes to the ongoing war in Afghanistan. Last week she forecast Australia would have a presence in the war-torn country for at least another decade.

The definition of a presence in Afghanistan may well change over time, but it was a sobering thought for many Australians and a sign that there is no clear exit strategy in the battle to restore order in the troubled nation.

The start of a parliamentary debate over the issue last week saw Labor and the Coalition Opposition remain committed to Australia’s role in Afghanistan, while the Greens and at least one Independent crossed the battlelines and questioned the sending of troops to fight what many are calling an unwinnable war against terrorism.

Continue reading "The Afghan war is a slow-burn issue for Gillard" »

When should Australia wage war? Has anyone asked you? Have you given it much thought or is that a job best left to the government?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that twenty one Australian men lie dead, lost on the battlefields of Afganistan. Each of them is easy to admire - young, supremely fit, highly trained, brave soldiers.

It’s pretty clear they all possessed courage and commitment to their task, their training and their mates most of us would struggle to emulate. They all have families and friends - even more tragically, a number of them have young children who will never see or know their dads.

Continue reading "Most think our leaders have it about right on Afghanistan" »

With the beginning of a parliamentary debate into the war in Afghanistan this week, the more localised conflict between Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott of trips to the warzone came to a periodic truce.

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But the outbreak of the highly politicised PR war between the leaders over who was supporting the troops in Afghanistan more does bring us to an interesting question: what is the point of politicians hanging in war zones?

Earlier in the week the Greens Senator Bob Brown was asked by the 7:30 Report’s Kerry O’Brien why, as the leader of a party pushing for troop withdrawal from the war, he had not visited Afghanistan.

Continue reading "The growth industry of pollies in war zones" »

Bob Brown wants us to pull out of Afghanistan, Alexander Downer says the time has come to negotiate with the Taliban, and both major parties have so far stuck to the line our mission there is train the Afghan National Army in Oruzgan and nothing more (although the Coalition has argued for increased resources).

After Question Time in the House of Representatives this afternoon the historic debate on our involvement in the Afghanistan War will start with opening addresses from the Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the Opposition Leader Tony Abbott. Join us here from 2pm for live coverage of Question Time, followed directly by the commencement of the debate.

Julia Gillard’s “more detention” announcement is no solution for asylum seekers.

The Labor government has announced that children and families are to be released from detention. If you thought so, look again. The announcement is a shameful sleight of hand.

A closer look shows that the government’s announcement falls a long way short of actually releasing children and families. Those that are
“released”, will live in the community under “residence determinations” with possible curfews and other restrictive conditions set by the Minister.

Continue reading "This is no solution for asylum seekers - it’s a con job" »

Greens leader Bob Brown will today have his first real win of the new paradigm, with the debate he called for on our involvement in the War in Afghanistan set to commence at the conclusion of Question Time in the House of Representatives.

It’s unlikely the Government would have consented to such a debate if it didn’t have to, such is the growing chorus of questions surrounding our mission there.

The Greens are not the only ones questioning the strategy and time-frame of our deployment - but there’s no doubt Bob Brown is in the hot-seat now, and must be hoping the debate, which will also cascade into the Senate next week, produces something more than bi-partisan adherence to the stock standard lines.

The Punch will cover the commencement of the debate live directly after Question Time, which begins at 2pm. Check back on the home page this afternoon to join in.

Continue reading "What should we get out of the Afghanistan debate?" »

SATURDAY 09/10/10

Morning

Abbott Press Secretary (APS) calls. Wants me to come to meeting at 0900.

Do not like it when Abbott’s staff start using 24 hour time. Usually means Abbott plans to use all 24 hours in day.

0900

Meeting with Abbott.

Abbott hands me envelope – says it contains vital national security briefing. Will read on Monday. Today am meeting wife in Canberra to go to Floriade (Flower and Garden Festival). Wife has spent all week planning flower viewing.

Continue reading "Diary of a Liberal Frontbencher: War weary" »

Welcome to Friday at The Punch

How’s your week been? Got something on your mind? Share it all here.

Let’s just clear up one thing before the parliamentary debate on Afghanistan starts. The Coalition supports the troops. The ALP supports the troops. We all support the troops.

Questioning our role in Afghanistan and seeking clarity on our mission there does not equate to “disrespecting the troops” - despite that being the rhetorical fallback for people who think they’re at risk of somehow losing this important debate.

But both Tony Abbott and Julia Gillard seem to think the way to win politically (as opposed to the way to “win” the war) is to paint the other as inadequate in their support of the 1550 Australian men and women currently serving in Afghanistan.

Continue reading "Our troops deserve a mature debate, not a pissing contest" »

The Australian public are being fed a one dimensional view of Afghanistan by both sides of politics that is misleading and will only result in further domestic political frustration and a public continuing to question why our troops are not winning the war. 

Our mission in Afghanistan will not be successful through military engagement alone.  The Prime Minister must publicly acknowledge that our mission in Afghanistan will only succeed through the implementation of a range of mainly direct civilian engagements outside the safety of our Forward Operating Bases and a long way from the good coffee in the safe compounds in Kabul.

War is armed politics and counterinsurgency is an armed variant of domestic politics in which numerous challengers compete for control over the population.

Continue reading "Our leaders have no idea how to “win” in Afghanistan" »

Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott are both on their first overseas jaunts since the election and neither of them seems to be enjoying themselves very much.

Even though no one believed him for a second, Tony “Iron Man” Abbott’s jetlag excuse for not visiting Afghanistan has turned into a real snafu, and Gillard has admitted she’d rather just stay home altogether.

Let’s deal with Abbott first.

Continue reading "You know what they say about Aussies abroad" »

The ongoing criticism of the Australian Defence Force’s deployed resources in Afghanistan, firstly by the 6 RAR Digger’s email and now also by a senior soldier in Townsville and a recently returned Officer, raise the real issue of the Government’s commitment to the fight.

Has the Government deployed every possible resource needed to achieve the mission?

In response to that now widely publicised email, Defence stated that the Commander on the ground at Deh Rawood had a range of direct and indirect fire assets at his disposal. The Commander chose to use some of those assets and others he did not, for a variety of reasons such as airspace deconfliction.

Continue reading "We need to listen to those on the ground in Afghanistan" »

It is fair to say that there is a growing sense of unease in Australia about our commitment in Afghanistan. Twenty-one Australian soldiers have now died.

The latest casualty, Lance Corporal Jared MacKinney, was laid to rest just nine days ago. Five hours after his burial his widow Beckie gave birth to their second child.

Beckie’s friend, Courier Mail journalist Jane Fynes-Clinton, wrote a heartfelt but forthright column about the broader meaning of this family’s private tragedy. She argued on behalf of her friend that Australia should honour Jared’s memory by staying the course in Afghanistan.

Continue reading "Whatever the wrongs, Blair is still right on Afghanistan" »

NOW there will be a new Defence Minister, Stephen Smith, who will have the rotten task of taking to the podium with Air Chief Marshall Angus Houston to announce that yet another Digger has been killed in action.

Senator John Faulkner did it too many times.

It was clear from watching Faulkner that he truly hated these death calls. He appeared to feel almost too deeply the burden of being the minister in the government which has ordered its troops to fight.

Continue reading "Grieving lost soldiers doesn’t equate to supporting the war" »

The picture is seared in the mind’s eye: a moment that cut a beautiful young woman, heavily pregnant with a baby boy, to shreds.

A late-night knock at the door revealed two uniformed soldiers, the bearers of the news that her husband, Lance Corporal Jared MacKinney, had been killed in a war zone a few hours before.

His bride was shattered. With one sentence, Beckie MacKinney’s world careened off its axis. I know this because I have the privilege of knowing this brave, fragile, amazing woman. And although two weeks have passed since that terrible night, the feeling of helplessness as her friend refuses to loosen its grip.

Continue reading "Afghanistan: honouring the dead by staying the course" »

Advisory: The following post contains graphic content which some people may find distressing.

Everyone suffers in war. No exceptions. I have been travelling to Afghanistan now for over three years. Covering the conflict from an outsider’s perspective, not getting involved or emotionally attached to the people I photograph. This is hard. Maintaining perspective and impartialility each day is challenging.

Watching soldiers die on the battlefield for a belief in something so far remote from them, is at times very difficult. They fight because they are told to and because if they do not, they will probably be killed by an ill-equipped and under trained Afghan insurgent - or a farmer with a grudge and no money to feed his family.

Continue reading "Into an Afghan hot zone with a ‘Dustoff’ crew" »

The Greens might not have the balance of power in the Senate until next July but one of Bob Brown’s proposals, a parliamentary debate on our military commitment in Afghanistan, should be indulged well before then.

Nine years into a war that has recently grown much more dangerous for our troops the two major political parties have fallen back on a bit of a “just because” argument for why we should remain in such a Hell hole.

It’s an accepted reality that both sides are in unanimous support for our mission. But as public unease with the growing Australian toll intensifies, our leaders have failed to properly articulate much beyond championing our training role and that “progress is being made.”

Continue reading "What exactly are we aiming for in Afghanistan?" »

The 18th Australian soldier, Jason Brown, died in Afghanistan last week.

Gillard and Abbott were united in simultaneously expressing condolences to Jason’s family and friends; whilst expressing their determination to remain in Afghanistan (all the while carefully avoiding the war slipping onto the election agenda).

Gillard and Abbott are united in their declaration that Jason’s death should not distract from their commitment to maintain a presence in Afghanistan.

Continue reading "Shameful silence on the Afghanistan front" »

After months of controversy, approval has been granted for the construction of an Islamic community centre and mosque two blocks away from the site of the World Trade Centre in New York City.

But the $US100m dollar building that will boast a gym, childcare centre and a couple of restaurants has raised several questions about religious tolerance, cultural freedom and national healing, leaving many New Yorker’s divided and one of their biggest questions un-answered: when will the United States pull out of Afghanistan?

Continue reading "Ground zero in tensions over war in Afghanistan" »

There’s a tendency in some circles to see disclosures like the Wikileaks publishing of 90,000 documents about the war in Afghanistan as an inherently good thing.

Many people – from all parts of the political spectrum – see the release of secret government information as desirable as a rule because it allows people to look into the inner workings of the state apparatus and its agents. This makes governments accountable. Others, more insidiously – especially in technology and new media circles – welcome events like this mainly because they involve the internet.

The Afghanistan war logs are a watershed moment in government control over intelligence data. It’s not that battlefield information was published – that’s nothing especially new – but that the release of the information was so huge and co-ordinated between three countries and on the web simultaneously.

Continue reading "Wikileaks: friend of the truth, enemy of the troops?" »

Like Samson and his hair, I’ve a long held theory that John Faulkner’s powers actually reside in his huge red rimmed glasses.

This may have been an optical illusion, but in moments when Faulkner’s significant consolatory powers were most in demand, such as sitting between Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard in the Prime Minister’s office two weeks ago, the glasses appeared to double in size.

Today, as the wise old owl of the Labor Party announced he would be moving back to the backbench, the size of his specs looked almost regular - or at least within the range of sizes recommended by OPSM before they give you long-term neck problems.

Continue reading "The PM needs to signal who will take charge of Defence" »

The recent discussion of the Afghan deployment focus on the loss of more, young Australian lives as part of a mission which is not understood. It is a tragic loss, yet fundamental re-appraisal of western aims in Afghanistan seems highly unlikely.

The western presence in Afghanistan is not simply a lost decade of US led Osama hunting, nor is it merely a 30 year hangover from Cold War conflict. The Western presence in Afghanistan is part of a larger mission that has dragged on for hundreds of years.

The common acceptance of the logic that underpins both sides of the public debate about Afghanistan, illustrates that this mission is so acceptable to western polities that its existence is taken for granted and passes largely unremarked.

Continue reading "The real reason we’re fighting a war in Afghanistan" »

The timing is a co-incidence but it’s a terrible spectacle nonetheless.

As we’re bringing another three Australian Diggers home in coffins from Afghanistan, and increasing our civilian presence there, the man in charge of the allied military efforts has been dragged back to Washington because of something he said to a Rolling Stone journalist.

I’m not sure who comes out of this looking worse, President Obama or his General Stanley McChrystal.

Continue reading "Is the Afghan war in the hands of cowboys?" »

Well we’re leaving Afghanistan, it’s just not entirely clear when.

Today Defence Minister John Faulkner has announced changes to our role in Afghanistan that have been made necessary by the withdrawal of Dutch troops in August.

At the same time the Defence Minister gave a qualified timetable for withdrawal between 2012 and 2014, and then assured us that he wasn’t doing that.

Continue reading "Are we leaving Afghanistan or not?" »

Update 1:30 PM: Kevin Rudd has told a meeting of Labor MPs this morning that Australia has a “definite and finite” role in Afghanistan, but has not pointed to any specific withdrawal timetable.
The deaths of another three soldiers in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan means five Australian soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan in two weeks. 

The latest tragedy means 16 Australian soldiers have now been killed in Afghanistan, since Australian forces joined with American led coalition forces after the September 11 attacks all the way back in 2001.

For good reason politicians and parties in Australia are generally loath to be seen politicising the deaths of young people who serve their country, but the number and regularity of the deaths of our soldiers in Afghanistan leads to inevitable questions for the Government about our future there.

Continue reading "Should Rudd pull us out of Afghanistan?" »

Update 10.30am: Acting chief of the defence force Lieutenant General David Hurley, and the acting defence minister Greg Combet have also just confirmed the deaths, and said the soldiers’ families had requested their names not be released.

Update 10.10am: Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has confirmed two Australian soldiers were killed. More here.

Details are still emerging but Australians are believed among the casualties in the most deadly day this year for allied forces in Afghanistan.

A spokesman for the Australian Defence Force confirmed an “an incident” involving the Mentoring Task Force and that next of kin had been informed, though did not provide further details. The Courier-Mail in Brisbane, where the MTF is based, is reporting two Australian soldiers were killed in the incident. If confirmed it will bring the number of Australian soldiers killed in Afghanistan to 13 since 2002.

Last night the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force confirmed an improvised explosive device incident that killed two soldiers in southern Afghanistan, where Australian troops are based.

Continue reading "Callous reminders of why Afghans still want to flee" »

On returning last month from 10 days in the Middle East Area of Operations (MEAO) that included five days in Afghanistan in Kandahar and Tarin Kowt, I was shocked to hear of another attempted extremist Islamic terrorist attack, on that occasion in Times Square.

This only reinforces my view that unless we defeat the Taliban and remove the opportunity for their Al Qaeda allies to spew venom through indoctrination, training and support, we will continue to fight them in our own backyard.

The Dutch unfortunately have decided their contribution has come to an end in Afghanistan leaving a capability vacuum in Oruzgan Province where the bulk of Australia’s combat forces are. The military has a maxim that ‘time spent in reconnaissance is seldom wasted.’ Likewise 10 days with our troops on operations was fertile time to reflect and I’ve personally concluded that Australia should consider expanding its contribution to fill this vacuum and take the lead in Oruzgan Province.

Continue reading "More Australian leadership is needed in Afghanistan" »

If you haven’t already seen the graphic below take a minute to have a look.

This is an explanation the United States’ plan for victory in Afghanistan, and formed part of a PowerPoint presentation given by the US Military to some of its top brass.

This PowerPoint presentation is not only emblematic of what may have gone wrong in Afghanistan, but, without wanting to sound too alarmist, what’s gone wrong with the way we’re being taught to think.

Continue reading "How PowerPoint slides ruined the world" »

Welcome to Wednesday @ The Punch

Today in 1988 the Soviet Union signed an agreement pledging to remove their troops from Afghanistan.

Throughout history millions have urged us to ‘make love, not war’ and an important voice has just joined this choir.

On Tuesday, Australia’s former Army Chief, Peter Leahy, suggested that the defence budget should be cut and redirected towards its diplomacy and aid programs – and no, he wasn’t wearing flares or dreads.

Continue reading "Former army chief says ‘make love, not war’" »

Welcome to Monday @ The Punch

Today in 1989 Soviet Troops pulled out of Afghanistan after nine years of conflict.

The Defence Department posted this image from Afghanistan on its website on Tuesday. As you can see, the faces of the Australian soldiers were obscured.

For security reasons, we have decided to also obscure the faces of the Afghans in the photo.

The Defence Department released this photo along with a media release, which explained the men pictured were village elders and religious leaders of Chenartu, north-east of Tarin Kowt. The photo shows the Afghans laughing and getting on well with members of Australia’s Special Operations Task Group as they engage with Afghan communities across Oruzgan province.

Continue reading "First casualty of war is truth, closely followed by logic" »

Outside a Sydney court this morning, self-styled Sheikh Haron claimed his views were not being accurately represented.

Accordingly he and a female aide – who video-recorded the Sheikh’s long sermon to reporters on the steps of the court - handed out copies of the letter which is reproduced below.

He faced the Downing Centre Local Court today charged with sending harassing letters to the families of dead Australian soldiers.

Continue reading "Sheik’s plea: Stop killing civilians, call the Wiggles" »

It’s hard to know whether those handling media for the Australian Defence Force are as clueless as they seem or are now openly trying to bait the Australian media.

Yesterday there were a couple of press releases sent out from the ADF.  The first was helpfully entitled: News Stories from Afghanistan – Three news stories for broadcast/publication.

Doing their favourite PLA impression, the ADF has in fact provided three media releases on Australia’s operation in Afghanistan labelled “news stories” and penned from within the organisation.

Continue reading "Much glorious Afghan victory has been won by ADF" »

An evocative photograph taken last week underscored that old utterance about a picture being worth a thousand words, and prompted at the same time some perennial questions about war in general, and about the particular war being waged at present in Afghanistan.

The AP photograph showed a small boy in the Afghan province of Helmand, standing on top of a small mound, his left hand reached out to clasp the right hand of a uniformed and heavily-equipped US marine.

Just what the two of them might have said to one another was not recorded in the caption, nor in the report below, which detailed a call from the UK Minister for International Defence and Security, Baroness Ann Taylor, for Australia to commit more troops to the NATO effort against the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.

Continue reading "Afghanistan needs us to decide if we’re fighting on" »

Welcome to Wednesday @ The Punch

Fact: today in 2001 the United States launched an attack on Afghanistan in retaliation to the events of September 11. It’s also the eighth anniversary of the war in Afghanistan. 

For more background information on Afghanistan listen to this audio study from ABC Rear Vision.

On 28th July 2009, I flew out of Sydney bound for Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. It was to be the start of a fascinating trip into the Afghan war zone.

I embedded with the American 10th Mountain Division in Logar province, in the East part of the country. I was then shipped out to “The Tip of The Spear” as they called it, to the district of Kherwar.

The unit I joined was part of the Coalition’s blocking force against Taliban forces who are trying to use the area as an alternative entry point to the Wardack province and into Kabul.

Continue reading "Heart of darkness: inside the Afghan war zone" »