OBAMA'S MIS-STEP

I began this Saturday column looking at President Obama's West Point speech.

I should have made more of an issue of it. It's already become a classic case of leadership failure.

Here's the column:

THE BEGINNINGS OF ANZUS

This column is just an amazing fact that hasn't been written about before and deserves a bigger audience.

It's not my research, of course. Distinguished Professor Robert O'Neill discovered how the ANZUS Treaty actually got started. He incorporated the details in a speech he presented to the Airpower Conference this week, where I heard it.

This is the way I reported it in the Canberra Times today . . .

SPY GAMES

In the years of Empire the European powers sought to extend their grip over central Asia. This rivalry quickly became known as "the great game".

In Islamabad it still sometimes appears as if the new powers are playing out their own spy novel fantasy thrillers, without regard for the people of the region.

This was my take from Islamabad . . .