The special relationship with the U.S. and Australia

Some have the solution to Pacific Rim security, as long as it includes the faulty F-35 and Lockmart song book. Fielding the Brewster Buffalo II throughout the Pacific is a plan to lose.

The U.S. President will speak before Australian Parliament today. Do not expect him to walk up to the podium; and pull out of his top-hat a hand-written 3 minute speech that is eloquent and relevant.

Australia and the U.S. have military exercises all the time. The idea of deploying a small number of Marines to Australia is if anything, a very very small part of that picture.

What it really shows in these budget troubled times is that the U.S. has a certain number of Marines that can't be used anywhere else. Since they will not contribute to hard deterrent in the region, we could save some money and remove those manpower slots from the USMC.

Not mentioned much is the waste of manpower Australia is funding for Operation: USELESS DIRT. Silly as Australian Army resources have plenty of security work to do right here in our own back yard.

Real deterrence can only be done when you have strong air power in place. Since no one is thinking about basing USAF F-22s in Australia, the idea of deterrence is rather empty.

Here in Australia, the Communist China lobby is worried about hurt feelings. Communism has more sway for some than democracy and freedom of speech. If China is the way forward, why bother funding a military at all? The Communist China lobby cares less about human values and more about making a buck. Or is it their true love of communist ideals?

You decide.

Then there is the Communist China lobby in D.C.

Australia being the farthest away they could put Marines without making communist investors--including those who invest in Congress--angry.