Correction: The March 15 atrocity was not "possibly" the worse terrorist attack on a religion in the Southern Hemisphere in over a century. The 1994 attack on the Jewish Community Centre (AIMA) in Buenos Aires killed 85 and injured hundreds. If one ...
... have been ideologically motivated (e.g. El Paso, Pittsburgh), most others...
Revenge is a a many-sided emotion. In the hands of untethered delusional individuals it is bad. In the hands of those seeking righteous vengeance, it is a useful tool. The post Pearl Harbor reaction in the US was as much fuelled by revenge as it was by ...
No, which is why that phrase is unhelpful. The big difference in HUMINT is that between Official Cover (those with diplomatic passports) and Unofficial Cover (those without diplomatic passports and hence immunity). OC's who are discovered get expelled; ...
Must be the wrong clip. She talks about different types of intel officers (and it is a very incomplete one at that), but never mentions the reasons why NZ did not respond favorably to the UK request. Surely it is not just because there were no people who "...
Geddis is wrong about those with diplomatic passports being expelled. A number of them had nothing to do with intelligence matters. As for the reasons, can you point me to where these have been enunciated?
aom: Before you sign my expulsion orders, have a look at my original thoughts on the affair. A lot got spun off and/or edited down in the aftermath of my writing it, but the bottom line is this: the spy comments by the PM were not only silly but a ...
Ha Ha, you got me there. I once asked Jian after he was in parliament if the Nats were using his expertise (since he has authored several good (objective) books and articles about Chinese foreign policy in the South Pacific). He laughed and said something ...
And here I was ging to run for office once I got citizenship. As far as my former colleague Jian is concerned--I reserve judgement. His career prior to arrival in NZ has certain parallels to my own, and I am not, as far as I checked, a "spy." What the SIS ...
Something tells me that this is not the end of the matter. A state's refusal to investigate allegations of serious crimes committed by its own forces is the first step in pushing the inquiry up to the ICC. And given who the lawyers are representing the ...
Good question Penny. I think that the NZSAS always was tasked with three roles: train the CRU, provide force protection to VIPs and the PRT when needed, and to conduct long range patrols to collect intelligence and attack targets when required. The spin on...
The Manning and Young essays cited are two very important follow ups to the original story and the NZDF response to it. The first dissects that response and finds some glaring discrepancies in the NZDF account of events--glaring to the point of involving ...
Just a small correction. Correa is the outgoing president of Ecuador, not Bolivia. Evo Morales is the president of Bolivia. What is true is that in spite of some problems both Ecuador and Bolivia have done pretty well under Left rule.
Sorry, a little late to the discussion. Since I was cited in the article about Mr. Brown here is a more detailed elaboration of my views on his possible nomination: http://www.kiwipolitico.com/2017/02/where-to-draw-the-line/ Readers wil note that there is ...
Yes, the papers were commissioned with the understanding that there was a month to run on a 2 year term. Deadline was Dec 2. The omission of 2334 does not invalidate either argument because it clearly was drafted knowing that the US would not veto it and ...
Good point, but the legislation only refers to designated terrorist entities (i.e. not our allies). More broadly, Libya is the place to look at when it comes to "our guys." And I suspect that it is not just ex NZDF/NZSAS who are there.
It should be noted that Mr. Key introduced the phrase "Jihadi brides" in his questioning of SIS Director Kitteridge during her appearance before the parliamentary select committee on intelligence and security late last year. Although her response followed ...
The problem is not so much that the politicians lied or at least deceived via false implication. The problem is that the Director of the NZSIS decided that a relative insignificant, even non-existent threat was worthy of mention on a par with other more ...
I have stated on more than one public occasion that I thought that signing the Wellington and Washington agreements, given the terms, was a bad idea for NZ if it wanted to keep its "independent and autonomous" foreign policy stance. I even have an academic...
By "war-mongering" do you mean just the US? Or does that include the Australians, Chinese, Russians, UK, France and other states that have engaged in blood-letting under dubious circumstances? My impression is that the invitation went out to countries that...
... it is under Obama. The Buchanan (no relation) was not nuclear...
The 75th anniversary of the establishment of the New Zealand navy as an independent force on October 1, 1941. Until then it was a branch of the Royal Navy. Since the RNZN is known as much if not more for its humanitarian role as it is for its combat ...
In spite of all of the back and forth about what the US Navy surface fleet might or might not have in terms of nuclear weapons, and whether or not the US is sincere in its statement that its non-carrier surface fleet is neither nuclear armed or powered, I ...
Grindle: Indeed, there is much to be discussed before the major players will be willing to sit down to negotiate as equals on how to end the conflict. I also think that Iran has to be at the table, and that of itself will be a thorny issue. It is smart for...
I agree that the Western campaign against Syria is fraught and that Putin has trumped it. But remember that the core of the Daesh leadership are Iraqis and Iraq is as much if not more important to them than Syria. I find the NZ possibility of involvement ...
Over the last month, during his trip to the UN General Assembly meetings, he has made public statements to the effect that he would consider sending the NZDF to Syria if the circumstances warranted. His comments were reported at the time.
Timing of the public release of the report was coincident with Key's PR jaunt to Taji, but the truth is that coalition partners were given it in advance. Key says that it was Brownlee's job to handle the matter, but perhaps Brownlee was too busy working ...
I suspect that we have only seen the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the unethical behaviour of the NZDF and political leadership in this affair. Remember that there is a MoD involved and the respective ministers then and now (Coleman and Brownlee). ...
To continue a line of thought started above about whether this was an act of terrorism (or as some in the US are now calling it, "domestic terrorism" as if that somehow is different than foreign terrorism), I should note that not all politically, ...
Anne: I spoke on background to several media people yesterday and today and pretty much outlined for them what I have written above (and then some). I got asked by one outlet to appear today but declined because I do not wish to be associated with the ...
I will simply add that the lecturer who penned the scare-mongering hysterical piece has no demonstrable experience with terrorism or counter-terrorism, much less the broader geopolitical and ideological context. She makes a false comparison with the US and...
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