US to permanently station troops in northern Australia

[Ichingcarpenter]

The United States is set to permanently base troops in Australia amid concerns about the threat of China's growing military reach across the region.

President Barack Obama is expected to reveal plans to station about 500 to 1000 Marines at a barracks in Darwin and to expand the US navy's use of bases at the Northern Territory capital and in Perth in Western Australia.
He will make the announcement in Australia next week during a visit that includes Hawaii and Indonesia designed to assert America's commitment to the Asia Pacific region.

The bases would be beyond the expanding range of new Chinese missiles, which can reach the main US Pacific bases on Okinawa island in Japan and the small island territory of Guam, east of the Philippines

The US Marines are reportedly due to be positioned at the Robertson barracks in Darwin, effectively the nearest mainland Australian military base to China. But the fresh US presence would also involve additional use of aircraft of air bases in the north west of the country and further access to training ranges

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/8883558/US-to-station-troops-in-northern-Australia-as-fears-of-Chinas-Pacific-presence-grow.html

[HipChick]

1. Not really news...Pine Gap has been in existence for over 40yrs..

Over 1000 people..% of military unreleased

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/pine-gaps-wider-missile-role/2007/09/20/1189881684412.html

[Ichingcarpenter]

2. Australians think its news

And adding more troops anywhere on the planet

Is not bringing the troops home.

[Lasher]

3. My father was based at a Darwin Navy base.

In 1944.

[MadHound]

4. Seriously fucked up thinking

We need to shut down our bases in Japan and elsewhere in the Pacific, not be opening new ones.

Our tax dollars at work, being wasted.

[xchrom]

5. How much is this gonna cost? Nt

[PETRUS]

7. Global domination is expensive...

...for taxpayers. For the 1%, it's like money in the bank!

[Harmony Blue]

6. U.S. already has a sizable presence in the region

don't buy the spin. And I agree, how much will it cost?

[UTUSN]

8. Aussies are great to have Liberty with

Down the river, arriving at the Army post at Can Tho with our shipload of supplies, we would be granted Liberty only until 7 P.M. at the little bar. Whenever the Aussies were in the vicinity, it was a race to see who would get there first. Whoever got there first had control of the bar.

If it was us Americans, everybody sat at separate tables in 1s, 2s, or 3s. If the Aussies got there first, they pushed all the tables together into one long thing, and SING drinking songs as they swung their beer in time in the air.




But as for the O.P.'s topic, a base in Australia, it's scary that the threat is gelling that much. And us being stationed there will have great duty for some decades until the attack hits. Or will it be a surrender without a shot.

[The Northerner]

9. Can anyone provide a reasonable justification for this overseas military expansion in Australia? n/t