AUSMIN = Political and Military domination

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by Bill F.

The recent annual Australia United States Ministerial Consultation (AUSMIN) merely confirmed the political and military domination of Australia by US imperialism.

The recent annual Australia United States Ministerial Consultation (AUSMIN) merely confirmed the political and military domination of Australia by US imperialism.

Principal conspirators this time were Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop, Defence Minister David Johnston, US Secretary of State John Kerry and US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel.

They formally ticked off a legally-binding Force Posture Agreement which enshrined the permanent presence of US marines in Australia, along with associated warplanes and stockpiles of weapons and military equipment.

The agreement also covered plans to use Australian airfields, military bases and ports to accommodate visiting US forces, with fighters and bombers using Tindal Air Force Base and Delamere target range in the Northern Territory.

Hagel boasted, “We have, in this Asia Pacific region, about 200 ships in our navy in the Pacific… we have over 360,000 military uniformed personnel and civilians stationed in this part of the world; this is a part of the world that represents five of America’s seven treaty-obligation countries, which we are committed to and which we’ve made it very clear we’re committed to.”

There were other bits, such as setting up the C-Band space surveillance radar and the Space Surveillance Telescope in Australia, and cooperation “on cyber, electronic warfare, hypersonics, as well as integrated intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance technologies.”

All very obscure, but designed to enhance existing US spy bases such as Pine Gap, which has now become a control centre for launching drone attacks across the world.

Inter-operability means we take their orders
The key word in these discussions was ‘inter-operability’ – meaning the deep integration of Australian military forces into the US war machine, with particular mention of Australia’s highly trained Special Forces.

Training for this ‘inter-operability’ would continue through the biennial Talisman Sabre exercises and the purchase of expensive weaponry from American armament manufacturers – the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, EA-18G Growler, P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft and E-7A Wedgetail early warning aircraft.

During the talks, the US sought to enlist Australia into equipping its warships with the US ballistic-missile defence system – the ‘Aegis’ radar and missile system which it has installed on its navy vessels and is mainly intended to shoot down possible Chinese or Korean missiles. The ever-keen-to-please Australian ministers agreed to a proposal to set up a working party to scope the detail of work required and the mega-billion dollar price tag.

The joint statement issued afterwards welcomed the decision by Japanese prime Minister Abe to over-ride his country’s pacifist constitution and adopt a more militarist and aggressive posture. This neatly dovetails into US efforts to establish a “tripartite” military pact involving the US, Australia and Japan.

Having signed Australia’s political collaborators up for its aggressive military plans for Asia and the Pacific, the US pushed for the signing of the scandalous Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement “as soon as possible”. This would formally complete the trifecta – political, military and economic domination!

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