Neil James: "Noise around Afghanistan inquiry risks distracting from need to prevent future war crimes". #ausdef #auspol #CivilControlOfTheMilitary #WarCrimes #ADF aspistrategist.org.au/noise-… via @aspi_org

The Ukrainian 3rd Army Corps (@ab3army) showed this week that its counteroffensive has built not just tactical but operational momentum. It has also released information on aspects of UGV integration into ground operations. Welcome to my weekly update. 1/7 🧵🇺🇦

Maj. Gen. (res.) @YairGolan1, leader of The Democrats: "A liberal democracy or an authoritarian theocracy? This is the question."

Sadly a revealing comment given the often irrational and emotive hostility being levelled against Israel in particular and the world's Jews in general. Particularly when the range of political opinion, and inter-action, in Israel remains a testament to how robust Israeli democracy remains under wartime stress. A stress clearly not understood by most foreign critics of Israel.

“Why are Israelis turning rightward?” Oh i don’t know. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that thousands of Gazans stormed peace-loving Jewish neighborhoods and a techno rave and slaughtered over a thousand people. Maybe it’s the fact these leftist, peacenik communities were targeted intentionally. Maybe it’s the fact they were thrown into a 3 year war and themselves along with people they loved were injured or killed in action. Maybe it’s the fact leftists all over the world support the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Maybe it’s because leftism is ultimately a luxury belief system that tends to evaporate once you have to carry a gun for your people’s safety.

There is a large element of people talking past each other here. Again. Preserving historic defence infrastructure is more than just a heritage-protection issue of benefit to all Australians now and in the future. First, ADF operations are limited if sufficient urban basing is not retained. This includes a range of contingency actions, such as assistance to civil authorities in emergencies and supporting major events (eg. ceremonial occasions, VIP visits, international conferences, international sporting competitions). Second, retaining adequate urban basing (and supporting housing) is also a morale issue operationally, and a personnel recruiting and retention factor generally. Including that the families of defence force personnel deserve to share living in areas with access to the community facilities that most urban Australian families enjoy and take for granted. Especially considering ADF families often have to live elsewhere over the Service member's career. Third, pushing the ADF out of central or near-central city sites has largely run its course with only a few urban bases left. Especially for the Army (as the RAN always needs ports and the RAAF always need airfields). Fourth the ADF needs to retain sufficient public profile and general visibility in our major cities to remind and educate the public about why Australia needs a defence force. Finally, this issue is cyclical and often recurs when governments of either political persuasion seek perceived easy solutions to housing policy dilemmas. Especially when flogging off defence force land is floated to evade making productive or politically-difficult changes, or when state governments try to unload responsibilities or public criticism onto the federal government. During the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd governments, for example, selling defence land was often raised to hide cut to the defence budget. This involved a similar jibe about why were there supposed "luxury" golf courses on (generally non-urban) ADF bases. Ignoring that these courses assisted unit morale, doubled up as training areas for various fitness and military skills activities during working hours, generally formed part of the noise-abatement and security buffers needed around most ADF bases anyway, and the land involved was often reclaimed swamps or heavily polluted/damaged sites unsuitable for buildings. Plus such golf courses had been constructed by volunteer labour over decades, outside working hours, are maintained at no cost to the Commonwealth, and usually save public funds that would otherwise have to spent maintaining the buffer-land involved. For decades, defence force bases in or near our major cities have been stripped from ADF use for partisan-political purposes. It's high time to draw the line against such ideas by sensible discussions of all the pertinent facts and risks.

And still insufficient investment in Australia's strategic security. The largest inter-generational inequity remains that we continue to gamble with the security of our children and grandchildren. By selfishly not investing our fair share, now, of what's needed to sustain and modernise Australia's national defence infrastructure for the long term. And the risk is increasing that they might not even have the time to reverse our neglect before a serious strategic crisis hits them.

Allowing the erasure of an entire culture to be forgotten, or buried to advance a trade agreement, is a stain on free peoples’ honor. We must do better.

this is brilliant please read it. And congratulations to the anonymous authors deterrence.online/articles/g…

Number 1 is contentious, but how the British ended most insurgencies in colonies, protectorates, etc. Number 3 remains a contextually (and legally) incorrect comparison. Number 5 would currently create more problems than it would solve, but can't continue indefinitely without other numbered problems being tackled. Other statements not unduly controversial in informed debate.

Good example of the current Irish national psychosis about "Israel". Especially its frequent, and now sadly pervasive, factual, intellectual and moral inconsistency.