defence Archive

  • Keith Locke

    Mapp’s reassurances on torture fall short - by Keith Locke



    It’s not good enough for Defence Minister Wayne Mapp to say he has “no information” that any of the 58 people arrested on the SAS’s joint operations with the Afghan Crisis Response Unit have been subsequently tortured. He admitted that 15 of them had been sent to facilities run by the Afghan intelligence service, the [...] read more
    October 14, 2011 2:15 pm - 5 Comments
  • Keith Locke

    What Taliban hotel attack says about NZ military involvement - by Keith Locke



    It will be a difficult time for the families of NZSAS soldiers injured in Afghanistan and my sympathy goes out to them as they wait for updates on the medical situation of their loved ones. On the political level, the Taliban raid on the Intercontinental Hotel underlines the failure of the US-led war in Afghanistan. [...] read more
    June 30, 2011 11:06 am - 6 Comments
  • Keith Locke

    Cyberwarfare a dangerous path - by Keith Locke



    I see that “cybersecurity” one of the agenda items in this week’s tete-a-tete between Foreign Minister Murray McCully, Defence Minister Wayne Mapp and their UK counterparts William Hague and Liam Fox. The first question McCully and Mapp should ask the British ministers is “Are you going to challenge the United States on its resort to [...] read more
    January 19, 2011 3:00 pm - 12 Comments
  • Keith Locke

    Why NZ sent army engineers to Iraq in 2003 - by Keith Locke



    There has been outrage from Helen Clark, Phil Goff and Jim Anderton over a claim by a US Embassy official (in the Wikileaks documents) that: “Senior MOD officials (strictly protect) tell us it was not until Finance Minister Michael Cullen pointed out in a subsequent Cabinet meeting that New Zealand’s absence from Iraq might cost [...] read more
    December 22, 2010 12:01 pm - 6 Comments
  • Keith Locke

    At long last, a bit more openness about the SAS - by Keith Locke



    I’ve welcomed the government’s move to let us know something about what the SAS is doing in Afghanistan. For eight years we’ve had to rely totally on leaks in the foreign media, or what Kiwi journalists like Jon Stephenson have been able to dig up. For eight years I’ve peppered New Zealand ministers and Defence [...] read more
    January 28, 2010 2:33 pm - 4 Comments
  • Keith Locke

    Bearded Apiata on NZ Army website - by Keith Locke



    There are two (related) debates raging following the decision of the Herald and other newpapers to publish the photo of VC winner Willie Apiata on active duty in Kabul following a Taliban attack. The Christchurch Press argues this morning that it was just sharing a photo ‘that anyone could see on the internet’. The Press [...] read more
    January 25, 2010 12:04 pm - 14 Comments
  • frog

    Dr Indecision - by frog



    I am utterly dismayed after reading a quote from Dr Wayne Mapp in today’s Dom Post, with regards to the NZ response to Japanese whaling: I’m not really sure what we will be doing. It doesn’t get any more wishy washy than that from a Defence Minister. Not that I blame Mapp for the sentiment. [...] read more
    November 27, 2008 12:27 pm - 46 Comments
  • frog

    Defending small islands - by frog



    Defence and security seems to be my meme for the day. Tane has noted that: in a resource-constrained post-peak, climate changing world, there won’t be enough to go around. We won’t be able to help the whole world, therefore removing all incentive for them to attack us. And that seems to be the problem that [...] read more
    September 4, 2008 11:16 am - 9 Comments
  • frog

    Defending ourselves - by frog



    I’ve always thought defence policy should be viewed a little like health policy.  With health policy it’s good to have all the hospitals and surgical specialists and so on there if you should need them, but really we should also be spending a lot more time and effort on helping people to stay healthy as [...] read more
    September 4, 2008 8:33 am - 39 Comments