Posted on 06/07/2004 3:01:05 AM PDT by kattracks
Pacific Rim Bureau (CNSNews.com) - Australia and the United States are close to an agreement that will allow the U.S. to have a key military training center on Australian territory.
An existing Australian base in the country's vast north will be upgraded by the U.S., and the two allies' forces will hold air, sea and land exercises from the center, Australian Defense Minister Robert Hill said.
Speaking after meeting with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in Singapore -- where both attended a regional security conference -- Hill told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that an in-principle agreement could be signed at annual ministerial talks in Washington next month.
He said the plan was "to enhance mutual capability, ensure inter-operability and to assist a critically important ally."
In a bid to pre-empt predicted opposition, Hill said the joint combined training center would not be termed a U.S. military base, and equipment and personnel would not be based there permanently.
"I think the confusion in Australia has been that people have ... assumed that the Americans would want to be basing forces in Australia, but we're not actually very conveniently located for any potential theater," he said.
The Pentagon is currently carrying out a major reassessment of troop deployments around the world, which will affect where and how U.S. forces are stationed and used.
While in Singapore, Rumsfeld spoke at a press conference about the need for "a more agile arrangement" rather than having armed forces "stuck in a static position."
Hill explained that with modern capabilities, "you don't need the same level of forward deployment that you once needed."
Hill did not identify the location for the training center, but said it would be in Queensland or the Northern Territory.
Prof. David Horner of the Strategic and Defense Studies Centre at the Australian National University said Monday a base near Katherine, south of the city of Darwin, could serve the purpose well, having already been used for joint exercises with U.S. Marines.
The Tindal Air Base hosts a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Hornet fighter squadron, and boasts numerous hangars and concrete bunkers, as well as aircraft firing ranges, he said.
Since the late 1980s, it has been used as an Australian "forward base," he said, noting that Darwin is closer to Singapore than it is to Sydney.
Tindal was also a stop for Special Forces troops on the way to East Timor during the crisis in the then Indonesian-occupied territory in 1999, and about 250 Air Force personnel from the base were deployed in Iraq during last year's hostilities.
Horner said what was now being proposed was not a huge step beyond what has already been happening in the way of joint Australia-U.S. maneuvers. But there would nonetheless be opposition.
"It will be controversial," he said. "It will be presented by the opponents as an American base in Australia. Others will say, 'There's nothing different from what's been going on for years; no-one's complained about it.' But the terminology will be the key thing here."
Horner said he expected the official opposition Labor Party to be among those critical of the plan.
With an election due later this year, Labor and Prime Minister John Howard's ruling coalition have been clashing over policies relating to the alliance with the U.S. and Australian involvement in Iraq.
Horner stressed that despite the political differences, Labor did not want to discard the alliance.
"The American alliance being a key feature of Australian defense policy is something that has pretty well bipartisan support."
The other likely source of any criticism is Southeast Asia, and especially the governments of Indonesia and Malaysia, both of which have been unhappy with the notion that Australia could play a "deputy sheriff" role for the U.S. in the region.
Horner said Australia's ties with the U.S. were not necessarily always regarded in the region as negative, however.
Australia is also involved in regional alliances such as the "Five Powers" defense pact involving Australia, Britain, New Zealand, Singapore and Malaysia.
"When we come into these arrangements within the region, we came as a country that's coming in with the support of the United States. So we then come with a bit more clout than we'd normally come with.
"That's a positive aspect to the alliance [with Washington] that the countries in the region don't usually complain about."
Reaction to Hill's comments Monday was quick to come from Australian "peace activists."
A non-governmental organization called the Australian Anti-Bases Campaign Coalition said that if the plan for "yet another United States military base in Australia" went ahead, it would plan protests.
"Australia already has too many U.S. military facilities on our soil," coalition spokeswoman Dr Hannah Middleton said. "We do not want another one."
The plan would have negative economic, social and environmental effects, and would not Australian security, she charged.
Middleton accused the Howard government of putting Australians in danger "by signing up as a front line collaborator with the U.S. military."
Australia has been a close ally in the war against terror; sent forces to Afghanistan and Iraq; is a partner in President Bush's Proliferation Security Initiative; and plans to participate in the U.S. missile defense program.
A joint Australia-U.S. facility at Pine Gap in the outback serves as a satellite tracking station.
Send a Letter to the Editor about this article.
Wow. How cool.
Will they be able to posess actual, real guns???? It's a shame what's happening to so great a country as Australia!
Tindal RAAF base would benefit greatly from the influx of US forces, and, dare I say it, cash.
And I'd sleep safer knowing that if the Islamics in Indonesia suddenly rose up as one against "the Australian infidels", we'd have more than a few Hornets up north to defend us.
I always thought Aussies were a lot like Texans, but I guess I was wrong. They've let the wusses take over.
Can we bring our sharp knives and bows?
Party Time!!
... And the last time you visited my country was when, exactly?
not to get in middle of the trans atlantic spat...
but the distruction of guns was disturbing,
whats the situation with gun ownership in australia...
anyways wanted to move there at one point
peace
Woomera (sp) AS, 1987...Doesn't make me an expert on Australia, but if you think visiting does....
I suppose you can't tell me what you were doing in the South Australian desert, as that would be "classified".
*Shrugs* Like I care. My father once held quite a high security clearance during the Vietnam War, when he was carrying out covert surveillance for the US. He's still viewed with respect by ASIO (sort of like your CIA)...
See my homepage. Woomera allumni, 1982-84. Loved it! Great, beautiful country with wonderful people. Wish they put this base closer to people, though. How far is Tindal (by the way, the USAF has a major base called Tyndall AFB, in Panama City, Florida) from Darwin?
Since we can't use Vieques Island any more, and people have become overly concerned about how the USMC is misusing the real estate at Camp Pendleton, it has become ever more important to have a real-life and real-time training facility where warriors in training may bang away and sharpen their skills for the time when they will be called upon to make an assault on an enemy that shoots back with malice aforethought.
Believe me, the other side is not concerned in the least with the environment.
Tindal is outside the town of Katherine, south of Darwin. This was the best map I could find in a hurry (and requires Adobe Acrobat viewer to use it)...
http://www.abs.gov.au/Websitedbs/D3110122.NSF/0/f9c96fb635cce780ca256d420005dc02/$FILE/NT_map.pdf
And to help with the distances (here given in kilometres...), 10km is roughly 6 miles.
You'll find a lot of central and northern Australia is very sparsely populated indeed.
Actually, ASIO has more in common with the FBI than the CIA (ASIO has a domestic focus) but without the law enforcement aspect (that's why you see the Federal Police with ASIO when they do raids). It's ASIS that is the rough equivalent of the CIA. DIO/DSD equates to the NSA.
It's not worth busting a blood vessel over people flapping their lips without thinking first.
Besides, my new section boss is a Marine AND a Texan AND he loves it here.
As an Aussie gun owner though, I gotta say our dumb-ass gun laws need to go.
Be thankful you didn't get a posting to the NAVCOMSTA Harrold E. Holt. It's about a 1000 miles north of Perth which in turn is about 1500 miles from the nearest major city (if you want to call Adelaide a major city).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.