Australia getting dangerously locked in to USA military operations in the Pacific
An Australian General, Major General Richard Burr, has become a deputy commander of United States Army Pacific. He will be responsible for planning and advising on the further expansion of American armed forces throughout the Western Pacific.
Australia hostage to the politics of the US in the Asian Century, The Drum, MALCOLM FRASER, 27 Sept 12,
This week Malcolm Fraser delivered a speech on Australia-US relations in the Asian Century. In this edited extract, the former prime minister says our Government has made us hostage to the politics of the United States. Australia has, under this Labor Government and with apparent consent of the Coalition, become the southern bastion of America’s re-arming in the Western Pacific and Southeast Asia. This is an extraordinary consequence of Australian Government ineptitude and of military planning, which might recognise America’s interest, but pays little account of our own.
It makes us complicit in any military activity that the Americans might undertake. Continue reading
USA classifies Julian Assange on same level as al-Qaeda terrorists and Taliban
US Vice-President Joe Biden labelled Mr Assange a “high-tech terrorist” in December 2010 and US congressional leaders have called for him to be charged with espionage. Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee – both once involved in presidential campaigns – have both urged that Mr Assange be “hunted down”.
Mr Assange’s US attorney, Michael Ratner, said the designation of WikiLeaks as an “enemy” had serious implications for the WikiLeaks publisher if he were to be extradited to the US, including possible military detention.
US calls Assange ‘enemy of state’, http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/us-calls-assange-enemy-of-state-20120927-26m7s.html#ixzz27joofxHc SMH, September 27, 2012 Philip Dorling THE US military has designated Julian Assange and WikiLeaks as enemies of the United States – the same legal category as the al-Qaeda terrorist network and the Taliban insurgency.
Declassified US Air Force counter-intelligence documents, released under US freedom-of-information laws, reveal that military personnel who contact WikiLeaks or WikiLeaks supporters may be at risk of being charged with “communicating with the enemy”, a military crime that carries a maximum sentence of death. The documents, some originally classified “Secret/NoForn” – not releasable to non-US nationals – record a probe by the air force’s Office of Special Investigations into a cyber systems analyst based in Britain who allegedly expressed support for WikiLeaks and attended pro-Assange demonstrations in London. Continue reading
Australia in danger, as part of USA’s military machine
Is it time to downgrade US defence? Business Spectator, Jackson Hewett , 26 Sep 2012 Malcolm Fraser says it is time we end our “dangerous and foolish” complicity with US military policy in the Asian region and renegotiate the ANZUS treaty.
He calls Defence Minister Stephen Smith’s assertion that joint US Australian military operations are not bases as “political spin of the worst kind”, something that Professor Richard Tanter, the Director of the Nautilus Institute for security studies agrees with.
Fraser says that the 2500 marines on permanent rotation in the Northern Territory, proposed US surveillance bases in the Cocos Islands and expanded roles of Pine Gap linked to US bomber command in Hawaii, send a clear message that Australia is becoming the “the southern bastion of America’s re-arming in the Western Pacific and Southeast Asia” – something that “spells danger for the entire region”. If citizens fully understood the level of US control over
military operations here, there would be “rage across Australia”.
Fraser is calling for a complete review of the ANZUS treaty and says that we have failed to work within the treaty’s stated aim of “consultation” on defence, and instead we have become “supplicants” who uncritically take part in American wars.
It is time, Fraser says, to show “the guts, the grit and the gumption” to communicate to the region that we are independent of America. Under current American policy, Fraser believes, our unwavering alliance with the US puts us in more danger than not….. http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/us-alliance-america-australia-china-foreign-policy-pd20120926-YH2Q9?OpenDocument&src=sph%20&src=rot
Malaysian protest against Lynas rare earths plant – not going away, in fact – it’s the reverse
“The world will witness one of the biggest civil disobedience events in this nation”
Mr Ibrahim has demanded that Australians ”hear the frustrations of Malaysians” over the project.
First Weld war looms – Malaysians mobilise to fight Lynas plant, The Age, September 
13, 2012 Lindsay Murdoch ACTIVISTS are planning a multi-pronged attack to try to stop the Australian miner Lynas Corp opening a rare earths
processing plant in Malaysia.
Opposition parties, led by Anwar Ibrahim, are also planning to make the $230 million plant a key issue of the country’s national elections, which must be held by April next year. They have vowed to shut the plant if they oust the government. Continue reading
Australia to be part of ASEAN discussion on nuclear power for the region
ASEAN ministers explore nuclear power as a long-term option 11 September 2012 http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/southeastasia/view/1225292/1/.html SINGAPORE: Ministers from the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will explore nuclear power as a long-term option for the region’s energy needs when they meet on Wednesday, 12 September at the 30th ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting (AMEM) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said they will discuss collective efforts to develop ASEAN’s nuclear safety
capabilities, as well as a coordinated approach on regional nuclear emergency preparedness and response mechanisms with international partners.
As with previous years, the ASEAN ministers will be joined by their key energy Dialogue Partners and International Organisations, namely Australia, New Zealand, India, China, Japan, Korea, Russia, the US and the International Energy Agency (IEA). Continue reading
Yeah, why not have Australia fuel Pakistan’s nuclear bombs, as well as India’s?
Australia willing to help Pak combat energy crisis, Pakistan Observer, Amanullah Khan, 9 Sept 12. Karachi—Australian High Commissioner Peter Heyward has said there are certain technical requirements to ensure that nuclear capability would be used for domestic energy need and not for military purpose and if Pakistan fulfills such condition Australia may think of exporting uranium to Pakistan…. Speaking on the occasion Mian Abrar Ahmad , President, Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry said Pakistan needs to build civil nuclear capability to meet its energy requirements since ours is an energy hungry country……. http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=173330
Nuclear lobby gets to APEC
APEC Leaders Safe Use of Nuclear Energy Power Industry News 9 Sept 12, Asia-Pacific leaders wrapped up two days of their summit talks on Sunday with an agreement to ensure the safe use of nuclear energy and a renewed commitment to forestalling protectionism. Leaders of the 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum adopted a joint declaration and related documents at their meeting in the Russian Far East city of Vladivostok….
Specifically, they agreed to “ensure the safe and secure use of nuclear energy as a clean energy source in interested economies.” Their accords also include the promotion of steady investment in energy infrastructure….
http://www.utilityproducts.com/news/2012/09/09/apec-leaders-safe-use-of-nuclear-energy.html
USA was at first worried that Kevin Rudd as P.M might not toe the USA line
Another cause for US alarm was Rudd’s announcement in June 2008 of a new International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (the Evans Commission). Cables show the US was affronted by Rudd’s decision to announce the Commission without telling them first……. By the time preparations for the 2010 RevCon began, Rudd government officials were echoing the line of their Howard-era predecessors.
The Israelis regarded Rudd as being a useful tool in the propaganda war against Iran
WikiLeaks cables show how Australia works with the US to get Iran, Green Left 6 Sept, 12, “……Kevin Rudd US-Australian relations on nuclear issues were complicated by Kevin Rudd’s rise to power in 2007. Labor had a longstanding policy of opposing nuclear cooperation with non-NPT signatories, which the US feared might jeopardise its planned civil nuclear agreement with India, a non-NPT state. The US needed Australia’s support to approve the deal in the Nuclear Supplies Group (NSG) , which sets guidelines for nuclear-related exports. It repeatedly raised the issue in meetings with Australian diplomats.
Early on there were signs that Labor’s policy could be dispensed with. While Rudd was still Opposition leader, the US Embassy reported that his foreign policy adviser, Peter Khalil : “Understood and accepted that renewed nuclear-power cooperation with India was a necessary price to pay for a closer relationship. Australia’s uranium industry could in fact benefit from renewed trade with India, he noted …” Continue reading
Australia colluded with USA against Iran
WikiLeaks cables show how Australia works with the US to get Iran , September 5, 2012 Green Left By Linda Pearson WikiLeaks cables show Australian officials have colluded with the US to get the IAEA to declare Iran in breach of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Barely 10 years after false claims about weapons of mass destruction were used to justify the invasion of Iraq, a similar narrative is being used by politicians in the US and Israel to push the case for war with Iran. You might not know it from mainstream media reports, but Iran does not have a nuclear weapons program and, as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT ), has an inalienable right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes.
It’s thought that Israel has up to 400 active warheads but, unlike NPT signatories, the country has never agreed to open up its nuclear program to inspection. The US has about 2000 active warheads and is arguably in violation of the NPT itself for its failure to meet the disarmament requirement enshrined in Article VI of the treaty .
US President Barack Obama’s “Global Zero” initiative to rid the world of nuclear weapons has amounted to little more than rhetoric . A 2011 report by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said the US spends more money on nuclear weapons than the rest of the world combined.
In effect, two countries with a combined nuclear arsenal probably greater than any other are threatening war with another country because it may have the capacity to develop nuclear weapons in the future. This would be yet another illegal war of aggression, the “supreme international crime” as defined at Nuremberg.
WikiLeaks has given us unprecedented access to information with which to challenge the self-conferred moral authority of the US and its allies to decide which states can and cannot have nuclear weapons. Diplomatic cables from the US Embassy in Canberra published by WikiLeaks suggest Australia’s role in US relations with Iran is shaped by its slavish support for the US alliance and Israel, and its position as the world’s second biggest seller of uranium. Continue reading
How Lynas Corporation has mucked up its rare earths reprocessing project
The radioactive residue produced is the responsibility of the company and if necessary, it will be returned to its place of origin.
And what might be the place of origin’s attitude?
“National legislation stipulates,” the WA minister for mines and petroleum has stated, “that Australia will not accept responsibility for any waste product produced from offshore processing of resources purchased in Australia such as from iron ore, mineral sands, and the rare earths produced by Lynas Corporation”.
“The Malaysian finding that Lynas must take the radioactive waste back to Australia may be the straw that breaks the camel’s back with the Lynas effort. This slight detail requires the governments of both Australia and the state of Western Australia to acquiesce in taking the waste from a plant that should have been built in Australia in the first place but wasn’t
LAMP going out for Lynas, 9 News, by Greg Peel, As recent FNArena articles on the subject of the rare earth metals space have noted, the global race to compete with China on rare earth element (REE) production has now come down to a mere handful of names including two stand-outs, and a big chunk of daylight to third. (See, for example: Rare Earths Done And Dusted? No, It’s Xeno-Time). Those two companies are Molycorp in the US and Australia’s own Lynas Corp . A year ago, it looked like Lynas had moved ahead of Molycorp.
According to research and opinion from REE specialist Hallgarten & Company, that is certainly no longer the case. Indeed, Lynas shareholders may be in some trouble. Continue reading
UK backtracks on its threat to invade Ecuador Embassy in London, to get Julian Assange
UK retreats on Assange embassy threat THE AUSTRALIAN, AFP August 27, 2012 ECUADOR’S President Rafael Correa has said he believed his country had overcome a diplomatic spat with Britain over its threat to enter the
Ecuadoran Embassy in London in order to arrest Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.
“We believe that this unfortunate incident is over,” said Mr Correa. “It was a mistake for the British Foreign Office to say that they would enter our embassy.”
“It’s good that the United Kingdom has given up its threat. Continue reading
Australian Carl-Magnus Larsson will head UNSCEAR report on the Fukushima nuclear disaster
Next December Carl-Magnus Larsson, head of the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency, takes over as UNSCEAR chairman.
UNSCEAR has been the go-to body for such complex, high-profile investigations since it was established by the UN General Assembly in 1955 under the chairmanship of Australian radiation expert Cecil Eddy…. the Fukushima report .. will be
presented to the [United Nations] General Assembly late next year.
Radiation risks high in Japan http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/radiation-risks-high-in-japan/story-e6frg8y6-1226456949429 BY: LEIGH DAYTON The Australian August 25, 2012 IT’S hard to believe, but earlier this month the power company that runs Japan’s devastated Fukushima nuclear power plant revealed that five people working on the clean-up had covered their radiation detectors with lead, rendering them useless.
The Tokyo Electric Power Company said the five were contracted by a subcontractor of a – yes – subcontractor and were not even authorised to work at the plant. Other workers were found not to have used dosimeters at all.
“That such egregious flouting of safety protocols would occur despite the media attention on the clean-up efforts is astonishing,” Continue reading
Wikileaks revealed how Australia joined USA in scheming against Mahomet El Baradei
US, Australia schemed against IAEA chief: cable BUSINESS RECORDER The United States and Australia schemed unsuccessfully in 2005 to block Mohamed ElBaradei’s election to a third term as head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, a newly leaked US diplomatic cable shows.
Both countries were unhappy with ElBaradei’s “unhelpful” response to Iran’s nuclear program, but the bid to prevent his re-election to the nuclear regulatory agency’s leadership ultimately failed for lack of international support. Continue reading
UK police raiding Ecuador Embassy to capture Julian Assange?
Ecuador to announce Assange asylum, Britain threat to raid embassy http://www.news.com.au/technology/ecuador-to-announce-assange-asylum-britain-threat-to-raid-embassy/story-e6frfro0-1226451411725#ixzz23kTVyVq3 Charles Miranda, wires From: News Limited Network August 16, 2012 Reports suggest British police have been seen
entering the Ecuadorian embassy.
The Press Association had earlier reported officers arriving outside the Ecuadorian Embassy, close to the Harrods store in Knightsbridge, London.
EARLIER BRITAIN is threatening to raid the Ecuadorian embassy to arrest Wikileaks’ founder Julian Assange.
Ecuador’s foreign minister, Ricardo Patino, told a news conference that the South American nation had received a written and verbal threat on Wednesday from Britain that “it could assault our embassy” if Assange was not handed over.\
Patino also said that Ecuador “has made a decision” on Mr Assange’s asylum bid and will announce it on Thursday at 7am local time (10pm AEST).
“Ecuador rejects in the most emphatic terms the explicit threat of the British official communication,” he told a press conference in Quito. He said such a threat was “improper of a democratic, civilised and rule abiding country”.
“If the measure announced in the British official communication is enacted, it will be interpreted by Ecuador as an unacceptable, unfriendly and hostile act and as an attempt against our sovereignty. It would force us to respond,” he said.
“We are not a British colony.” He said the threat was delivered to Ecuador’s foreign ministry and
ambassador in London.
The letter said: “You need to be aware that there is a legal base in the UK, the Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act 1987, that would allow us to take actions in order to arrest Mr Assange in the current premises of the Embassy.
“We sincerely hope that we do not reach that point, but if you are not capable of resolving this matter of Mr Assange’s presence in your premises, this is an open option for us.”
In the shadow of Fukushima, Government blindly pushes repeat of nuclear agreement
15 August 2012. Greens Senator Scott Ludlam, recently returned from Fukushima, today urged the Australian Government to consider the reality before locking Australia into a nuclear treaty for another five years.
“The Fifth Agreement to Extend the 1987 Regional Cooperative Agreement for Research, Development and Training related to Nuclear Science and Technology should not simply be rolled over for a further five year period,” Senator Ludlam said in a Dissenting Report on the deal.
“The Committee’s report perfunctorily dismisses the concerns and arguments provided in submissions and contrasts poorly with its past considered and detailed engagement on nuclear issues. It notes there ‘may have been an opportunity missed to upgrade the agreement rather than simply rolling it over’ but then goes on to recommend that the agreement be simply rolled over. It’s a negligent outcome.
“While the nuclear industry’s optimism may have a therapeutic function, it is not grounded in reality. This is an industry deeply shaken by the global financial crisis, the ongoing Fukushima disaster with its cover-ups and duplicity, and fierce competition from renewable technologies which continue to outpace nuclear.
Senator Ludlam said nuclear power was in terminal condition, as documented in the recently released World Nuclear Industry Status Report available at www.worldnuclearreport.org.
1 This month
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