Post by Trevor WilsonPost by NoddyPost by Trevor Wilson**That reliance would be a fatal mistake on our part.
I don't think so. That's why we have military alliances in the first
place :)
Post by Trevor WilsonShould that fucking idiot, Trump, be elected as the next POTUS, we
will be left on our own. DeSantis is an unknown factor, but you can
bet he would be happy to sacrifice Australia for votes. Australia
MUST be able to be self-sufficient in both defence and essential
commodities.
Australia will *never* be self sufficient at anything, as we don't
have the population or the wealth to be so. We are a small nation on a
very large island.
**Bullshit.
Really? We're a country that is geographically almost the same size as
mainland USA, with around 1/13th of the population and an economy around
1/20th of the US. If you don't consider that to be "small" then I'm
fucked if I know how you gauge sizes.
Post by Trevor WilsonAs others have stated, we need to make ourselves to be like
a porcupine, in a defensive sense. That would likely mean hosting nukes
on our soil on in subs. Long range missiles, sea mines, drones and drone
subs should all be considered to ensure that China refrains from
attacking or interfering with our trade.
That is a lovely sentiment Trev, and it would be nice. But we simply do
not have the manpower or the money to be able to do that. Not even close.
How much do you reckon it would cost us to man ourselves with enough
weapons of mass destruction to make the Chinese think twice about
invading us? The Chinese sound like they're ready to take on the
Americans over Taiwan, and if they're not perturbed about the threat of
American military might I can't see *anything* we could ever do here
that would make them change their minds if they ever saw fit to invade us.
Post by Trevor WilsonWe CANNOT rely on the US or anyone else. To remind you of WWII, the US was quite prepared to
sacrifice Australia to the Japanese, should it have been required. The
US will do so again.
Yeah, I don't think so.
You must study different historical sources than I have, as during WWII
the Americans considered Australia to be far too valuable an outpost in
the Pacific region for it to ever fall into Japanese hands, which is why
they sent their fleet to the Coral Sea to defeat the Japanese amphibious
invasion of Port Moresby.
From mid 1942 onwards, Australia was the largest Pacific base the US
had, and there was no way they were ever going to surrender it :)
Post by Trevor WilsonPost by NoddyAs far as the Americans are concerned, I believe Trump's day in the
sun has passed. He's too much of a liability now for the Republican
Party to stand him as a candidate for a second term, and I think
"Sleepy Joe's" days are also numbered. DeSantis will most likely be
the next US President, and while he *is* a relative unknown he doesn't
appear to be anywhere near as hardcore right as Trump is, or have the
same isolationist views.
**DeSantis has been described as 'Trump with a brain'. Which makes him
potentially far more dangerous. DeSantis has no care for Australia. We
need to do far more to enhance our defences and our critical
infrastructure. It has recently been stated that Xi intends to take
Taiwan in 2027. We have FOUR years to get our shit together.
Stated by who?
Take such comments with a massive grain of salt. For the last 25 years
the American State Department has been predicting that Indonesia will
invade Australia "within 10 years". Guess what? In that 25 years they've
been wrong twice, and are well on their way to making it a hat-trick.
*IF* the Chinese *were* ever going to invade us, do you honestly think
they'd throw out a projected date so we had time to prepare? :)
Post by Trevor WilsonPost by NoddyThe other point to consider is that regardless of whomever is in
office in the White house, Australia has far too much value to the
Americans both in terms of investment and strategic importance for
them to sit idly by and see it over run by a hostile country.
**Nonsense. Americans don't know where Australia is and, apart from our
baristas, they don't care about Australians. Which, of course, means
that their politicians don't care either.
Go back and read what I said a second time and see if it sinks in.
America has far too much strategic investment in this country for it to
ever be lost to the Chinese, or anyone else for that matter. The average
American Joe may not give a flying fuck about us, and the average US
politician may not either. But the joint chiefs, heads of the various
intelligence agencies and the industrial military complex in general
will all recognise the danger of losing this cornerstone of the South
Pacific to the enemy.
Post by Trevor WilsonConsider Ukraine: Despite the commitment and bravery of the Ukrainian
people, the US has not committed a single military person to fight in
Ukraine. The US is (rightly) concerned of what retaliation Russia might
unleash on the US if they did. In a few years, China will be a MUCH
bigger worry.
America, or anyone else for that matter, isn't sticking their nose into
the Ukrainian affair because it's mostly considered to be a civil war.
Fighting between the Ukrainians and Russians has been going on for
decades, and while it has the potential to get ugly if foreign forces
*do* put boots on the ground against the Russians, the Americans (and
others) are not exactly sitting idly by and doing nothing either.
The US is funding the Ukrainians with cash and military equipment on a
*massive* scale, and while the Russians may not be happy about that
they're not doing too much complaining because that's exactly what
*they* were doing during the Vietnam war. The Russians are getting their
own back and they have to suck that up. They're also well aware that
given the horrendous shit-show they've made of demonstrating how
incapable their military might is against the Ukrainians, they would be
doing all they can to avoid a direct military confrontation with the
Americans who would no doubt kick the absolute fucking snot out of them
on the battlefield.
The threat from Russia is not in the form of a protracted military
engagement, which they would no doubt unquestionably lose, but from a
Nuclear strike. The Americans would be well aware of this, which is why
I suspect that they have the bulk of their ballistic missile submarine
fleet on station within striking range of every Russian target of
importance as we speak.
The Chinese situation is a different ball game. They know that a move
against Taiwan will involve a direct confrontation with the US, and
possibly the UK, and New Zealand, and us.
Post by Trevor WilsonPost by NoddyAmerica is making waves about China's desires to control Taiwan just
so they're not held to ransom by the Chinese having control over the
world's chip market. In light of that, I can't really see them doing
nothing and letting the Chinese take over one of the world's largest
sources of coal, aluminium, uranium, gold or just about anything else :)
**There is NOTHING in Australia that the US can't find anywhere else.
Except decent coffee. They ain't gonna defend their coffee habit.
Pine Gap is a pretty important part of America's overall intelligence
gathering ability, and I don't expect they'd be all that keen to see it
fall into Chinese hands :)
Post by Trevor WilsonPost by NoddyTrump won't be the next US President, so it's a non issue.
**Trump PROBABLY won't be the next POTUS. However, never understimate
the stupidity of the American public. They voted for Reagan, Dubya and
Trump. That speaks volumes for just how dumb Americans are.
The American public can be as stupid as rocks, and a great many are, but
they can't vote for someone who's not an official candidate. I don't
believe Trump will be unless he stands as an independent.
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Regards,
Noddy.