US bases in Australia a setback for peace

The increased US military presence in Australia, announced by PM Julia Gillard and US President Barack Obama during Obama’s November 16-17 visit, is a setback for peace. Australia should be closing existing US military bases in Australia and put an end to existing joint military exercises with US forces.

Australia should stop taking part in US-led military aggression. In particular, it should withdraw Australian soldiers from Afghanistan and Iraq.

The new Australia-US deal will allow for 250 US marines to be stationed in Darwin next year, increasing to 2500 by 2016. There will be increased US military ship visits to Darwin and other ports in northern Australia. There will be more US warplanes, including B-52 bombers, based in Darwin. More joint US-Australian military exercises will take place on Australian soil.

US military equipment will be stored in northern Australia, including cluster bombs. These weapons indiscriminately scatter explosive “bomblets” that remain deadly long after conflicts have ended and mainly harm civilians.

Farmers working fields and children thinking they’ve found toys are common victims. As a result, cluster bombs are banned under international law.

The US is one of the few countries not to have signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Australia has signed, but legislation to ratify the convention now before the Senate exempts US forces in Australia from the ban.

The likely use of depleted uranium munitions in joint military exercises in northern Australia poses an extreme threat to the environment and human health — particularly that of local indigenous people.

Depleted uranium munitions have been linked to plagues of cancer and leukaemia in Iraq, Somalia, the Balkans, Afghanistan and even among US soldiers themselves — the not-so-mysterious “Gulf War Syndrome”.

The existing US intelligence base at Pine Gap in central Australia has become more important as the US war machine becomes more technologically sophisticated. Pine Gap has long been essential to US covert communications and its capacity to wage nuclear war.

Australia’s military engagement in Afghanistan is just the latest in a long line of US-led wars of aggression Australia has signed up to, which includes Iraq (twice), Somalia, Vietnam and Korea.

Australia’s national mythology makes much of military adventures at Gallipoli in 1915 and in the Boer War more than a century ago. Yet here again, Australian troops fought in an invading force led by a major power (Britain) in countries that had little to do with Australia (Turkey and South Africa).

The reason is that Australia’s foreign policy serves the nation’s corporate elite, the 1%.

In the South Pacific region Australia can do its own bullying. For example, Australia’s powerful mining corporations can operate in the region with little regard for local communities, local workers or the environment because of Australia’s regional power.



This power is exercised using economic and diplomatic pressure, but also by more direct means. For example, Australia has deployed troops and overturned governments in East Timor and the Solomon Islands in the past decade.

But Australian big business has worldwide interests. From the Congo to the Philippines and Chile, Australian mining countries destroy communities and pollute the environment.

Being a relatively small country, Australia lacks the military capacity to project power globally, so Australia’s 1% protects its worldwide interests by tying Australia’s military to the major power of the day. In effect, Australia has always joined the gang of the biggest, meanest bully. A hundred years ago, this meant Britain. Today, it means the US.

Australia also provides political services to the US-led gang. Foreign minister Kevin Rudd was one of the first Western leaders to call for military intervention in Libya this year, even though Australia did not take part in that adventure.

Australia’s unquestioning support for flagrant Israeli violations of international law is the result of both countries being part of the same US-led alliance.

Socialist Alliance calls for a foreign policy that serves the 99% in Australia — which means solidarity with the 99% throughout the world.

This means ending aggressive military alliances such as that with the US, removing all US soldiers and military facilities from Australia and withdrawing all Australian troops from Afghanistan and other aggressive overseas deployments. It means solidarity with struggles for democracy and self-determination everywhere and payment of reparations by Australia’s 1% for military aggression, economic exploitation and climate change.