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And that is EXACTLY why Australia should place a US military base in the north. 

The US Naval War College’s James Holmes, a strategist of serious stature, has suggested that the US Navy should establish a ‘massive’ base in Australia. This isn’t Holmes’s first stab at this. His initial proposal, back in 2011, apparently received the ‘gimlet-eye’ treatment from the would-be hosts.

Maybe there’s a touch of tongue-in-cheek to the ‘massive’ framing? If Holmes was hoping to provoke a rise from Down Under, the reaction from Australian commentators this time around has been more deadpan than gimlet-eyed. But a proposal this bold deserves a response.

I’ll have a go then.

Australians pride themselves on their reputation as a dependable ally on the battlefield. But they are more reluctant to yield up slices of their plentiful territory for foreign military use. The only enduring US base on Australian soil is the joint intelligence facility at Pine Gap. The secret to its longevity is that it is rooted in an equitable burden-sharing arrangement.

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Posted
4 minutes ago, steven100 said:

And that is EXACTLY why Australia should place a US military base in the north. 

The US Naval War College’s James Holmes, a strategist of serious stature, has suggested that the US Navy should establish a ‘massive’ base in Australia. This isn’t Holmes’s first stab at this. His initial proposal, back in 2011, apparently received the ‘gimlet-eye’ treatment from the would-be hosts.

Maybe there’s a touch of tongue-in-cheek to the ‘massive’ framing? If Holmes was hoping to provoke a rise from Down Under, the reaction from Australian commentators this time around has been more deadpan than gimlet-eyed. But a proposal this bold deserves a response.

I’ll have a go then.

Australians pride themselves on their reputation as a dependable ally on the battlefield. But they are more reluctant to yield up slices of their plentiful territory for foreign military use. The only enduring US base on Australian soil is the joint intelligence facility at Pine Gap. The secret to its longevity is that it is rooted in an equitable burden-sharing arrangement.

Do you not think that establishing a US naval base in Australia would constitute a major escalation and actually make matters worse? 

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Posted
5 minutes ago, steven100 said:

And that is EXACTLY why Australia should place a US military base in the north. 

The US Naval War College’s James Holmes, a strategist of serious stature, has suggested that the US Navy should establish a ‘massive’ base in Australia. This isn’t Holmes’s first stab at this. His initial proposal, back in 2011, apparently received the ‘gimlet-eye’ treatment from the would-be hosts.

Maybe there’s a touch of tongue-in-cheek to the ‘massive’ framing? If Holmes was hoping to provoke a rise from Down Under, the reaction from Australian commentators this time around has been more deadpan than gimlet-eyed. But a proposal this bold deserves a response.

I’ll have a go then.

Australians pride themselves on their reputation as a dependable ally on the battlefield. But they are more reluctant to yield up slices of their plentiful territory for foreign military use. The only enduring US base on Australian soil is the joint intelligence facility at Pine Gap. The secret to its longevity is that it is rooted in an equitable burden-sharing arrangement.

Australia will be part of the allies for sure.

this time i think it will be most of the world vs china.

 

like it or not, there are many more capitalist nations than there are communist. I think china and her allies in the end will be grossly outnumbered and out gunned. The free world will once agaon prevail, but possibly only after a billion people lose their lives through the nuclear fallout. 

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Posted
7 minutes ago, RickG16 said:

Do you not think that establishing a US naval base in Australia would constitute a major escalation and actually make matters worse? 

Good point and I've often considered this as it would be seen as taking sides. However, I think with the way China is moving forward more and more with authoritarianism around the region from the Spratly islands issue to the building of military bases on islands within the south china sea and taking over Hong Kong and other issues such as the tax on barley imports and wine and other produce from Australia and now where it wants to show it is flexing it's muscles .... these issues I think are slowly creeping into a pattern where in my opinion it's time for Australia to really think long and hard about being with the US and having that safety cushion just as a precaution or deterant is better suited. With economies as they are now, Australia is unlikely to see the old days of millions of $$ from China's through their import of goods, those days are gone. And what is Australia going to wait for ....  will they wait until there is an issue or an attack on the top end in 5, 10 or 20 years time and then ask for the US to help. If that's the case then the US may just say they're sorry but you were reluctant to support us several years ago so we don't have to capability to act immediately as we are a long way logistically from Darwin.

I think the government should place a small US base in the NT if at all possible so not to make a big deal from it and keep the word from the press. Then over time expand that base so the presence is eventually considered as a form of protection and or deterant  would be a better word.  imo

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