(ADF archival photos): Greg Combet (right)- future Defence Minister or PM? Expert questions Rudd’s leadershipCOMBET SHOULD BE PRIME MINISTER By Sasha UzunovCopyright 2008 Former Trade Union boss and current ALP Federal MP Greg Combet should become Australia’s Prime Minister, according to an influential political commentator. Mr Bruce Haigh, a retired Australian diplomat and expert comments […]
Sasha Uzunov dressed in native Afghan clothes behind the camera taping Mullah Zaeef. On the right is Canadian journalist David Pugliese, also in native dress. (Photo by Scott Taylor) DAVID HICKS MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE by Sasha Uzunov David Hicks, the Australian convicted of supporting terrorism in Afghanistan, has been in the news again. […]
ADF photo: PM Rudd meets the troops IS RUDD THE REAL McCOY ON DEFENCE? By Sasha UzunovCopyright 2008 In recent weeks we have witnessed the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, deliver sermons from the mount which have struck a chord with the defence community. Is the PM the long awaited Messiah, the Real McCoy? First there […]
One of the Dutch soldiers who saved me from a beating in Skopje, Macedonia Balkan flashback–Australian journalist reveals: THE DAY DUTCH SOLDIERS SAVED ME By Sasha Uzunov Last week the Australian government warned that Australian journalists should leave Afghanistan because they were being targeted by the Taliban. But since when have journalists ever been safe […]
Ken Pedler with Australia’s national symbol and as a digger (K. Pedler photos) Attention DVA (Department of Veterans Affairs- Australia)RWANDA VETERANS TRYING TO RETURN By Sasha Uzunov copyright 2008 A former Australian Army corporal who saw action in Rwanda in 1994 is trying to organise a return to that African hell hole to commemorate the […]
PANIC AND PARANOIA FIRE BRIGADE HOSES DOWN MELBOURNE TRADERS CONCERNS By Sasha UzunovCopyright 2008 The Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB) has today hosed down concerns from some of Melbourne’s Central Business District (CBD) traders by saying that an alleged increase in fire call outs were not due to training runs but were the real thing. Three […]
photo credit: ADF “FAILED” NELSON-HOWARD DOCTRINE ON AFGHANISTAN?By Sasha Uzunovcopyright 2008 The political and military fallout of the Taliban ambush attack on Australian soldiers in Afghanistan can be traced back to the failure of 2006 Nelson-Howard doctrine on the Afghanistan war. Nine Australian Special Forces soldiers in Afghanistan were recently wounded in some of the […]
DEFENCE MINISTER’S CONFUSING SIGNALS Aussie infantry ‘won’t engage Taliban’ The Age – http://news.theage.com.au/national/aussie-infantry-wont-engage-taliban-20080908-4bws.html September 8, 2008 – 5:56PM The federal government is not actively considering deploying infantry soldiers to take on the Taliban in Afghanistan, Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon says. Mr Fitzgibbon played down reports infantry soldiers would be sent to Oruzgan province as part […]
photo credit: ADFAustralian Prime Minister John Howard (1996-2007) with the troops DEFENCE MINISTER MAKES SENSE ON AFGHANISTANby Sasha Uzunov The current Australian Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon has tacitly acknowledged the wearing down of our Special Forces, because of the failed Nelson-Howard military doctrine, in the Afghanistan War. But we must remember two things: One, we […]
Update: Defence reviews rules on shares courtesty of http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/defence-reviews-rules-on-shares/2008/09/05/1220121526676.html SYDNEY MORNING HERALD Phillip Hudson, September 6, 2008 THE Defence Minister, Joel Fitzgibbon, will review the rules for senior Defence chiefs owning shares and the use of military equipment and facilities to host functions for sports teams. Yesterday he demanded a written briefing from the Department […]
