The United States will begin to permanently station up to 2,500 U.S. Marines in Australia, President Obama announced on Wednesday after finalizing a new bilateral defense deal with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
In a move widely considered to be aimed at countering growing Chinese military and economic influence in the region, the deal also includes an increased presence of U.S. warships and military aircraft – including B52 bombers – to operate from Australian bases.
In announcing the expanded military presence President Obama said “it’s important for [China] to play by the rules of the road. We will send a clear message to them that we think they may need to be on track, in terms of accepting the rules and responsibilities of being a world power.”
Traditionally, the “rules and responsibilities of being a world power” is to act in a way that is subservient to U.S. power, thus the need for Obama to “send a clear message” of militaristic provocation to the Chinese that their growing influence in recent years are American prerogatives.
China responded negatively to the news. “It may not be quite appropriate to intensify and expand military alliances and may not be in the interest of countries within this region,” said Liu Weimin, a Foreign Ministry spokesman.
The expansion of U.S. military presence in Asia-Pacific occurs despite crippling fiscal deficits and impending cuts to the defense budget. The deployment also has no discernible necessity in terms of defending the nation from a military threat, making the imperial and economic aspects of this particularly blatant.
another tropical resort for the top brass…i mean another vigilant out post to defend the homeland from the evil hordes.
p.s.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM…
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The United States will provide a second warship to the ill-equipped Philippine military as it confronts China in increasingly tense territorial disputes in the South China Sea, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said Thursday.
wow i miss bush….
Not a peep out of the "left" on this imperial declaration of war on China. UFPJ, Mainstream Medea, Phyllis Bennis – all quiet.
That sounds like the title of a new musical comedy, "Playing by the Rules," full of fun and frivolity with characters like Marlon Brando and Glenn Ford in, "The Tea House of the August Moon."
Another brilliant method to win hearts and spread democracy while picking the pockets of the Ammerican taxpayer.
What theme song will they sing when China has enough gold to back the Yuan?
China needs not go to war with america. all it has to do is just send its army to USA and surrender to usa army. do you think american can take 300million chinese pow. and china can raise easily 500mil army anytime.
This gives new meaning to the phrase "cognitive dissonance." At the same time the United States is threatening the Chinese, we are becoming more and more dependent on them economically. They manufacture much of what we buy, they buy our treasury securities to enable us to finance our deficits, Europe is asking them to help bail it out of its latest crisis, etc., etc. If we had a war with China, would the Chinese pay for it?
My take is this is the way they will sabotage any meaningful cuts to the Pentagon and DOD. This new line of countering China with 2500 Marines is a joke. It will expand to an arms race.
Is this the beginnig of another 'Yellow peril' propaganda campaign as we a have seen in the sixties and seventies during the Vietnam war years ? The US realizes and fears that China because of its rapidly growing economy and what is more important its dramatic technological advances is slowly but surely becoming the world's foremost domminant power most likely overtaking the US in the years ahead.
It's not the start, it's a further stage where the target is baited into opposing US strategic moves, whether or not these moves negatively affect it. This is then taken as proof that the target opposes US goals and is thus a threat. The Chinese have taken the bait. If they had been smart they would have simply pointed that that these troops have no concievable purpose. Instead they get all threatened by troops far away from any Chinese interest and based in a country that shares all the interests these troops are close to (e.g. keeping the trade routes open in South East Asia).
How exactly are 2,500 marines going to deter a country of 1,400,000,000? Such nonsense. And who is Washington to talk trash to China? As for the Aussies they would be better to either cut a deal with Beijing or just get nuclear weapons and become non-aligned. Getting into bed with Washington is a bad move.
"…responsibilities of being a world power." You mean like concocting bogus reasons to declare war on other countries…assasinating anyone in the world that doesn't agree with you with drones…maintaining military bases in some 100 countries around the globe…keeping people not accussed of any crime for years on end in a torture center…being the largest arms merchant on the planet…is that what you mean???
I'm one Australian who doesn't want ANY Americans in my country. Of course, I wasn't asked about this and neither were any other Australian citizens.
As in America, politicians rule the roost here along with the corporations and the ultra-rich. Things must change. Soon. We need a revolution complete with guillotine!
In my view David, you have nothing to gain and much to lose by hosting American troops. This is bad for both countries.
I find the explanation of why this is happening unconvincing. There is simply no reason to believe this is designed to counter chinese influence. http://credible.blogspot.com/2012/01/open-letter-…