BARACK OBAMA is to announce that the US will begin rotating Marines through an Australian base in Darwin in a permanent new military presence, intensifying the alliance in a sign of heightened concern about China.Our trade is facilitating the rise of China's military machine.
He is scheduled to make the announcement with the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, when they visit Darwin next Thursday during Mr Obama's first visit to Australia as president. The 26-hour visit will mark the 60th anniversary of the ANZUS alliance.
So, in response to this threat we can (a) stop trade with China or (b) prepare for conflict.
Now, what is the sane thing to do? The low risk or high risk option? The cheap or expensive option? The easy or hard option?
Don't answer that with common sense, that would be stupid.
No, we must consult the ideologies of free trade, globalisation, and white man's guilt. On all three counts, the verdict is: don't discriminate, don't be nationalist, and don't be racist. So there is no choice but the high risk, high cost, high stakes option.
File under: the genius of ideology versus common sense; Chinese goods are not cheap.
Of course it might be a bit difficult for the US to defend itself and Australia from China when most of its military hardware depends on Chinese components.
ReplyDeleteYou are probably right. The dementia in Western countries runs deep.
ReplyDelete