The US Defence Science Board, an advisory board to the Pentagon, published a study last December claiming that Muslims in the Middle East do not yearn for freedom.

 

But it seems clear that few in the Bush administration have read it or, if they have, then it is being ignored for not being ‘on message’.

 

The Board’s report asserts that Muslims in dictatorial regimes do not seek freedom as those in countries that had been dominated by the Soviet Union after World War II. The board said that unlike those who lived in East Bloc states, Muslims do not see the United States as their liberator.

AUSTRALIAN MILITARY COMMUNICATION GLOBALISED

Defence Minister Hill today announced that global defence giant General Dynamics will co-ordinate creation of the Australian Defence Force's new communications system.



General Dynamics claims it " has leading market positions in mission-critical information systems and technologies; land and expeditionary combat systems, armaments and munitions; shipbuilding and marine systems; and business aviation. It is headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, and employs approximately 70,800 people worldwide

The company is to be assisted by the Adelaide-based international defence corporation Tenix (whose consultants have included former Defence Minister Peter Reith) with ADI, Tenix founders Transfield share ADI in a consortium half-owned by European communications group Thales. The two goups have previously proposed merging aspects of their businesses. Thales acts as recruitment centre for ADI.

It's possible to guess who will look after the subcontracting work, but that would be pure speculation


Here's Minister Hill's medoa release:

Preferred Tenderer FOR BATTLESPACE COMMUNICATIONS PROJECT

“Giving all honour, thanks & praises to God for courage & wisdom, this is a very important rally. I'd like to thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts, feelings & concerns regarding a tremendous problem that we are currently facing. This problem is universal: transcending race, economic background, religion & culture, & this problem is none other than the current administration which has set up shop in the White House. 

 

In fact, I'd like to take some of these cats on a field trip.

President Bush unveiled an aggressive initiative Monday that would make the U.S. free of petroleum dependence by the year 4920, less than three millennia from now.

 

"Our mission is clear," Bush said in a speech delivered at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. "We must free ourselves from dependence on fossil fuels within 85 generations. A cleaner, safer America is my vision. And it is our great, great-great-times-80 grandchildren who will realize that vision."

The S.A. Government is attempting to recruit workers to the State from the commercial centre of India.

Addressing a seminar on ''Living, Working and Studying in South Australia'' in Mumbai this week, S.A. Trade and Industry Minister Paul Holloway said bio-science, automotive, manufacturing, medical research and hospitality were sectors where his country could employ people from the developing countries.

Mr Holloway said that South Australia offers varied job opportunities for overseas workers across a range of key industries including defence, healthcare and engineering.

''If you have skills in these areas, South Australia invites you to be a part of our cutting-edge defence industry,'' he enthused.

The Trade Minister referred to S.A. as the high technology centre of Australia's defence industry, leading the country in shipbuilding, submarine support, aerospace and defence research and development.

In a statement released last March, S.A. Premier Mike Rann said his Government had set a target to boost the number of people employed in the State’s defence industry from 16 000 to 28 000.

Mr Rann said that" Positioning ourselves to win more contracts will help us to achieve so many of South Australia’s Strategic Plan targets on job creation, economic growth, investment, interstate migration, exports, strategic infrastructure and establishing co-operative research centres and centres of excellence."

Prime Minister John Howard today announced funding for a new counterterrorsm package.

The funding will support measures agreed upon between the Federal Government and the nations' State Premiers.

Following today's meeting of the Council of Australian Governments’ meeting (COAG) to discuss national counter-terrorism arrangements Mr Howard announced $40 million in additional funding for a range of measures "to deliver increased safety and security to all Australians."

‘What is right for us is right for others: if it is right for our Western governments to reserve the right to attack a sovereign nation for either perceived crimes committed or possible future crimes, then it is right for the enemy to do the same.

 

In this case, Iran would be well within their rights to attack the US, pre-emptively, now. The patent aggression being openly directed towards Iran, mirroring the aggression shown toward pre-invasion Iraq, under our elementary moral truism becomes a valid policy avenue for Iran itself. Inversely, if we declare that it is right for us to have security, not be under external threat, to guarantee the prosperity of our citizens, then it is also a right for the government of Iran. Ideological differences apart, dedication to our notion of liberal democracy apart, it should not be on the personal judgement calls of our leaders, or on the desires of our business communities that a regime is deemed different to us & therefore subject to different courses of action, but on our commitment to a moral integrity, based on our elementary moral truism.

When you read this L.A. Times story, think about possible ramifications in an area near you::

[Excerpt]

By T. Christian Miller, Times Staff Writer

QARMAT ALI, Iraq — The failure to rebuild key components of Iraq's
petroleum industry has impeded oil production and may have permanently
damaged the largest of the country's vast oil fields, American and
Iraqi experts say.

The deficiencies have deprived Iraq of hundreds of millions of dollars
in potential revenue needed for national rebuilding efforts and kept
millions of barrels of oil off the world market at a time of growing
demand.

Engineering mistakes, poor leadership and shifting
priorities have delayed or led to the cancellation of several projects
critical to restoring Iraq's oil industry, according to interviews with
more than two dozen current and former U.S. and Iraqi officials and
industry experts.

The troubles have been compounded in some cases by security issues,
poor maintenance and disputes between the U.S. and its main contractor,
Houston-based KBR, a subsidiary of Halliburton Corp., according to the
interviews and documents.

Despite the United States' spending
more than $1.3 billion, oil production remains below the estimated
prewar level of 2.5 million barrels per day and well below a December
2004 goal of up to 3 million barrels per day.

Interviews and
documents from whistle-blowers show problems with at least three
projects deemed crucial to Iraq's oil production:

•  Qarmat Ali
water treatment plant. This massive pumping complex is needed to inject
water into Iraq's southern oil fields to aid in oil extraction. Under a
no-bid contract, KBR was instructed to repair the complex at a cost of
up to $225 million, but not the leaky pipelines carrying water to the
fields. As a result, the water cannot be delivered reliably, raising
concerns that some of Iraq's oil may not be recoverable.

•  Al
Fathah pipelines. As part of the same no-bid contract, the U.S. gave
KBR a job worth up to $70 million to rebuild a pipeline network in
northern Iraq despite concerns that the project was unsound. In the
end, KBR built fewer than half the pipelines, and the project was given
to another contractor. The delay has aggravated oil transport problems,
which have forced Iraq to inject millions of barrels of oil back into
the ground, a harmful practice for the oil fields and the environment.
A government audit is being conducted based on a complaint by a
whistle-blower.

•  Southern oil well repairs. A $37-million
project to boost production at dozens of Iraqi oil wells was canceled
after KBR refused to proceed without a U.S. guarantee to protect it
from possible lawsuits.