English Bill: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
English Bill: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:606;Page:3559] 
5.  
Hon BILL ENGLISH (Leader of the Opposition) 
 to the  
Prime Minister 
: Does she stand by her statement to the House that the Operation Enduring Freedom maritime interdiction operation “is an entirely separate operation with its own command structure”; if so why? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN (Deputy Prime Minister) 
 on behalf of the 
 Prime Minister 
: Yes because it is. 
Hon Bill English 
: Can the Prime Minister confirm that all aspects of Operation Enduring Freedom including the maritime operation are under the command of General Tommy Franks the same General Tommy Franks in command of US operations in Iraq and recently described as “now the military man whose task it is to design fight and win President George Bush’s war”? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: There are two points I need to make. The first is that under the Defence Act the New Zealand Chief of Defence Force has full command of all New Zealand Defence Force military personnel at all times. In this case that has been delegated to the Commander Joint Forces New Zealand. That command cannot be delegated to a foreign officer. Second in terms of the United States operations the central command is differentiated into two parts. Operation Enduring Freedom is managed separately from non - Operation Enduring Freedom planning. The United States has a very clear command structure in that respect and in part that is because there are a number of countries contributing to Operation Enduring Freedom that are not contributing to non - Operation Enduring Freedom planning. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Is the Prime Minister not just being disingenuous given the fact that the real issue is one of control and in that sense we are not in command or control of our forces; would that mean for example that if the Americans were to come back from the Middle East we would just leave our frigate there thereby asserting the level of control and command she is talking about? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: No. The New Zealand frigate contingent operates directly under New Zealand command and cannot engage in duties under whatever control inconsistent with the rules under which it operates. Those rules are confined to Operation Enduring Freedom. The structures are quite clear in that respect. 
Keith Locke 
: Will the Prime Minister confirm what was in a paper given to us last October showing that the headquarters of the maritime interdiction operation is on a US aircraft carrier in the area and does she really expect us to believe that details passed on by our frigate to that US aircraft carrier about Iraqi ships and what they are carrying will never be used in preparations for a war or in an actual war itself? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: No I cannot. The United States command is no longer on an aircraft carrier. 
Hon Bill English 
: Given that it is Government policy that New Zealand forces will not strategically support operations against Iraq that are not sanctioned by the UN can the Prime Minister give an assurance that despite the fact there is ultimately a unified command of Iraqi and Afghanistan operations in the US military structure New Zealand forces will not be contravening Government policy by for instance freeing up US forces from maritime operations and Operation Enduring Freedom so they can take part in the Iraqi war? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: Yes I can. If the member cared to contact the US Embassy to discuss the matter he would learn that the United States has separated command under two quite separate three-star generals.