Posts by John Holley
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Hi Russell. Peter sold his business to the CEO, Mike Morton, some time ago.
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Hard News: Towards the Truth, in reply to ChrisW,
I was and am seeking review and commentary on the book that is fully informed merely by having read the book, rather then necessarily being from insiders and participants. Still, I’m pleased to see you’re getting there, when you’re ready it would be good to hear whether you retain your initial skepticism on the basis that Hager misunderstands command relationships in the NZ Defence Force.
The more I read of the book (half way through), the more it confirms my view that Nicky doesn't understand the difference between command and control within the military.
For me though, what detracts from what I am finding to be a great read is that, as some investigative authors do, you get a blend of facts and Nicky's personal judgements. The latter can therefore detract from the importance of the former and set Nicky up for personal attacks.
It would have also been great to see more discussion on US Exceptionalism - which drives US foreign policy. This is just as important to understanding the events and USA actions that have unfolded since 9/11 as understanding the culture and nuances of Muslim countries and societies and their actions in response to US Exceptionalism.
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Hard News: The Minister's Brain Has Exploded, in reply to Sacha,
I must admit I am scratching my head and wondering if ATEEDs claim the 50,000 people normally come into the CBD on a Friday night is correct?
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Joel Cayfords earlier blog post Auckland Rail Blame Game gives some other vital info.
To put it simply, there was never the capacity in place to move all the crowds, as Joel explains. In operational planning terms, this means there was a significant failure in “staff checks” to see if public transport in Auckland could handle 40-50K going to and from the game as well as 120K (or more) people down town.
The original plan that had decentralised “fan zones” (dare I use the phrase) but Key and McCully wanted “Party Central”.
We already knew that there were problems at the ABvsAus test match when it took over 2 hours to clear people via the trains from Eden Park – and there weren’t 1000s of people down town at the same time!
It appears to me to be quite clear that the operational planning process failed, no one can have “war gamed” (excuse the military term but we are the only ones who formally train and practise this stuff) the options to expose problems and thereby adjust the plans and/or produce robust contingency options.
The worst thing is that people like Michael Barnett and others had raised concerns/issues about party central concepts 2 years ago but no one listened.
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Hard News: Towards the Truth, in reply to ChrisW,
I suspect, now that I am a quarter of the way through the book, that the lack of informed comment is because most mentioned by name are still serving officers or in senior Govt posts.
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Hard News: Towards the Truth, in reply to Russell Brown,
Thanks for the reminder to go to iTunes Russell. Now favourited on my Apple TV :)
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OnPoint: Other People's Wars, in reply to Carol Stewart,
How about you read the book before you make judgments like that,
No. I was judging him on his comments yesterday and today on the command status of NZ forces. Status of command is one of the most fundamental principles a commander must maintain and his comments appear to show a fundamental misunderstanding of how it operates.
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OnPoint: Other People's Wars, in reply to Paul G. Buchanan,
I will be reading it, but some of his statements about command relationships would effectively bring into question every contingent commander's integrity (and senior subordinates). The NZDF is rigorous in training and enforcement of SOFA and ROE for missions and commanders know that any alterations require approval from JFHQ and the Govt.
It is precisely the SOFA and ROE authorised by the respective governments of the day that was systematically violated by the NZDF (the authorisation of the GCSB to detail personnel to front line positions is more murky). The evidence in the book is pretty damning on this point.
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OnPoint: Other People's Wars, in reply to George Darroch,
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If even the prospect of having an army going to war, without the permission of Parliament, without the knowledge of the Prime Minister, and hidden from Cabinet does not overly concern the PM or Leader of the Opposition, then they don’t deserve their fucking jobs.
The command structure of the NZDF is quite clear. No one deploys on operations overseas without the direct approval of the Government (Cabinet really). It is also the Government which approves the Status of Forces agreement (SOFA) and Rules of Engagement (ROE) for each and every deployment.
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OnPoint: Other People's Wars, in reply to George Darroch,
George, you state:
In this context, the knowledge that the NZDF is acting in an aggressive capacity, well outside its stated mandate is open insider knowledge, but nobody feels like challenging the government on misleading the public. Except Nicky Hager.
What evidence do you have on this? The trouble is every one labels missions like Afghanistan (and early Timor Leste) as peace keeping missions when in fact they are peace-enforcement missions.
Sorry but Hager is looking like a twat using ill-informed snippets to come up with wild assertions e.g. command relationships.