Defence and Security
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No substitute for US exceptionalism: Manifest destiny made manifest
Manifest Destiny, now more commonly called American Exceptionalism is a traditional and widespread view in the US. American views of its relationship with the world vary from isolationism to leadership, but the underlying base is always that the US is something special. While some may be more subtle than others, how many Americans could accept Continue reading »
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The emerging spectre of American fragility: A reckoning
The United States, having learnt nothing from the 20th Century, is, quite characteristically, spoiling for a fight with one of the great success stories of our time, China, on the basis of nothing more than a doltishly unfounded fear of this success and an ever so faintly emerging spectre of American fragility. A fragility across Continue reading »
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“Seamless integration”: Japan to become sub-contractor for US aggression towards China
‘New era for alliance’ headlined the right wing Japan Times after the Japan-US summit talks in Washington this week between President Biden and Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida.. But not everyone was so enthused. Continue reading »
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David McBride versus Four Corners
On Easter Saturday, a friend and I drove down to Mullumbimby to hear Afghan war crimes whistleblower David McBride speaking at the Mullumbimby RSL. The previous Monday, I had watched the Four Corners program about David McBride, called Rules of Engagement. My friend hadn’t seen it, so we listened to it on the iPhone as Continue reading »
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Imitation accelerates
The whole world is experiencing an “escalation to extremes” because we imitate each other to a profound degree. We should choose our models more carefully. Continue reading »
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Pine Gap implicates Australia as complicit in Israel’s genocide in Gaza
A complaint concerning the Australian Signals Directorate to the Inspector General of Security and Intelligence. Continue reading »
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Pine Gap supports nuclear war fighting, not monitoring arms control agreements
Richard Tanter stated in Pearls and Irritations on March 21 in regard to my piece on a former Defence Deputy Secretary, Paul Dibb on 14 February, that “Media self-censorship, and acceptance – if not cultivation – of a mystique of impenetrable opacity about Pine Gap has facilitated public acceptance of government silence, misdirection and mendacity Continue reading »
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Russia: A steel wall against the West
In 1942, a Finnish sound engineer Thor Damen, secretly recorded 11 minutes of a conversation between Finland’s Commander-in-Chief, Carl Gustaf Mannerheim and Adolf Hitler, without the latter’s knowledge. Continue reading »
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A terrorist state and a declining US empire wage genocide
Hamas is the excuse for the Israeli attack on Gaza. The real intent is to expel all Palestinians not just from Gaza but from the West Bank as well. Continue reading »
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Mystifying Pine Gap – again
Brian Toohey’s article “Untruths, the CIA, and Whitlam’s dismissal”, (Pearls and Irritations, 14 February 2024), begins by dismissing as ‘astonishing’ a recent ASPI article by former Defence Deputy Secretary Paul Dibb on ‘Kissinger’s role in avoiding nuclear war, and the key part Australia played’ – ‘astonishing because it is riddled with major errors.’ Continue reading »
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Universities make astounding discovery: AUKUS lacks a social licence!
A not-so-happy anniversary: Usually, a first anniversary is an occasion for all-round rejoicing and back-slapping. So, it was to be expected that there’d be universal self-congratulation on the first anniversary of Anthony Albanese’s, Rishi Sunak’s and Joe Biden’s announcement on 13 March 2023 that Australia would purchase nuclear-powered attack-class submarines from the US as part Continue reading »
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Australia’s moment of choice: illegal war on show in 2003 Cabinet papers
What has changed since 2003? Nothing, except for the worse. Australian governments continue to accept the US enemies as their own, and shoot whoever the sheriff says. Continue reading »
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Dead in the water: The AUKUS SSN delusion
The general theme of delusion and the particular theme of ‘dead in the water’ as they apply to the entire AUKUS arrangements are provocations worthy of taking further. Continue reading »
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“I told you so”: No Aussie subs in 2030s, total reliance on the Yanks
The sweetest words in the English language: I told you so. Continue reading »
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It’s a huge policy failure that Australia can’t defend itself
Not unexpectedly, the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine project has run into reality as Virginia class production slows down, leaving Australia with no Defence policy. A huge strategic failure, if endorsed government assessments are believed, which has left Australia vulnerable and dependent on America. Continue reading »
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Unmanned ships for RAN : Here we go again – idea without a concept !
There has been significant media discussion (including P&I) of Defence Minister Marles’ recent announcement of the Surface Ship Review for the RAN – a step towards remedying the Defence procurement shambles inherited by the Albanese government and conducted by yet another retired US admiral! But there has been scant attention to the rabbit out of the Continue reading »
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Australia’s middle power self-image is undermining the country’s security
Australian governments routinely assert that the country is respected as a “middle power” in regional and global forums. Meanwhile scholars increasingly agree that the middle power concept is more fantasy than reality. In Australia’s case, the uncritical assumption of the middle power self-image, by many politicians and commentators, is undermining the country’s security. Continue reading »
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AUKUS: risks, risks and more risks
Instead of actually engaging in measures to promote peace, the AUKUS governments are feeding us a racist notion that three Anglo nations targeting China from thousands of kilometres away are needed to ensure it. Continue reading »
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Webs and deceit: The politics of AUKUS
Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practise to deceive! Continue reading »
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Alice in Aukusland: America first and the stillbirth of ‘Australian’ SSNs
AUKUS has become a stillborn project. Continue reading »
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“Fragrant, methane-wrapped bullshit”: NZ should steer clear of AUKUS
I don’t want to appall the diplomats present by using a vulgarism, but Pillar two [of AUKUS] is fragrant methane-wrapped bullshit. Australia and New Zealand are beautifully placed to nurture and defend a different model of relationships between the prevailing power [the US] and the rising power [China]: A different approach from the one that Continue reading »
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The National Defence Strategy – a fatal fault line in Australia’s security
Last Wednesday Defence Minister Richard Marles blustered his way through a speech and Q&A at the National Press Club. He presented the National Defence Strategy (NDS) to the nation – a document laden with the jargon of new defence priorities, AUKUS and a plan for our military to ‘project power’. Continue reading »
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Joining AUKUS not in NZ’s national interest
Helen Clark, o how I miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister – the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory – gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held in Parliament’s old Legislative Chambers on April 18. Continue reading »
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Terra nullius 2.0 – what AUKUS means for First Nations peoples
Australia will essentially become America’s military launch-pad into Asia. However, Ben Abbatangelo writes, little has been said or written about the drastic and disproportionate impacts it will have on First Nations communities in Australia. Continue reading »
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Lest We Forget: Japan joining AUKUS a stark reminder of China’s Century of Humiliation
With the addition of Japan, AUKUS ceases to be a device to supply nuclear powered submarines to Australia several decades in the future but a stark reminder of the oppressive powers that abused Chinese sovereignty in the 19th and 20th centuries. Continue reading »
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The United States leaves a mess in Ukraine, moves on to China
The US State Department’s No 2 now admits the AUKUS joint submarine project between three of the Five Eyes is tied to Taiwan and mainland China. Continue reading »
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Who pays the piper…universities dance to the AUKUS tune
When AUKUS was announced, the ANU was quick off the mark to cash in. Continue reading »
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AUKUS and military escalation – Who pays and who benefits?
On 12th March, IPAN ACT held a webinar in Canberra entitled AUKUS and Military Escalation – Who pays and who benefits? View the must-watch speeches from Alan Behm, Hugh White, Sue Wareham and Michelle Fahy below. Continue reading »
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Health professions urged to speak up on AUKUS and its threats to health and safety
At first sight there might not seem to be much connection between health and the AUKUS military alliance. But the threats posed by AUKUS to health are multiple and strong, at local, national, regional and global levels. A serious examination of those threats should form an important part of preventive healthcare. Continue reading »