U.S. Pivot to Asia: Australian Army Integrated In U.S. Military Doctrine; Sydney’s Week-Long Military Extravaganza Foreshadows New Wars

Dying, maniacal Obama regime reaches out to  "down under" nation of Western criminals in doomed attempt to expand non-existent power in ASEAN:  Australia should be isolated diplomatically and economically until such time as it rejects and ejects U.S. influence

WORLD SOCIALIST WEBSITE
By James Cogan
10/11/2013

In November 2011, the former Labor Party Prime Minister Julia Gillard stood beside US President Barack Obama to align Australia with Washington’s military and diplomatic “pivot” to Asia. American and Australian strategic documents have been explicit about the purpose of this “pivot”—to position air and naval forces that will be used to wage war against China, and prevent the Asian power from attempting to supplant US imperialism in the Asia-Pacific region.

White House pimp with fascist dyke trick Julia Gillard

Behind the backs of the Australian population, the Australian military is being integrated into the US military’s AirSea Battle doctrine. Under this plan, US forces will launch attacks on the Chinese mainland, while Australian forces will cut off China’s maritime trade links with the Middle East and Africa, starving its economy of oil, gas and other essential resources. To this end, the former Rudd and Gillard governments committed to acquiring new warships and aircraft over the coming years. The newly formed Liberal-National government of Prime Minister Tony Abbott is seamlessly continuing these plans, pledging to significantly increase military spending to enable their realisation.

U.S., Obama criminals plan to use Australia as a staging area to attack China according to U.S. military AirSea Battle doctrine

As the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War I approaches, a new war, with catastrophic global consequences, is being prepared. For the ruling elites and governments responsible, smothering the population—especially the youth—in an ideological fog of nationalism, patriotism and militarism is critical in order to mobilise the necessary cannon fodder, and to suppress the broad popular opposition to war.

WWII AU soldiers ran, looted civilians in Darwin

This fact lies behind the unprecedented spectacle organised in Sydney over the past week. The city was transformed into an arena for the shameless glorification of militarism and war, ostensibly to commemorate the centenary of the entry into Sydney Harbour of the first fleet of warships purchased by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) on October 4, 1913.

The character of the multi-million dollar extravaganza, dubbed “International Fleet Review”, had been determined by the Gillard Labor government and military commanders in late 2011. It featured the entry into the harbour of 19 Australian naval vessels, 18 warships invited from 17 other countries and a flotilla of tall-mast sailing ships. Tens of thousands of people crowded the foreshore last Saturday to watch as the ships, with jet fighters and helicopters flying overhead, were reviewed by the governor general, the Australian representative of the British monarchy, and by Prince Harry, fourth-in-line to the throne.

On Saturday evening, over one million reportedly assembled to watch what was billed as the largest fireworks and light display in the city since the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. The iconic “sails” of the Sydney Opera House and the pylons of the Harbour Bridge were used to screen a sanitised “history” of the Navy, complete with broadcasts of wartime propaganda footage, laser lights, frenetic techno-rhythms and martial themes. After the playing of the “Last Post” and a minute’s silence, more than 7.7 tonnes of fireworks were blasted into the night sky from warships, barges, the bridge and city skyscrapers. To conclude the festivities, “We Salute You” and the emblem of the RAN were beamed onto the Opera House.

Obama war-whore Gillard oversaw the torture and deaths of thousands of innocent Afghan civilians

Every second of the mind-numbing event was aimed at covering over the ghastly realities of war, and whitewashing the war crimes of Australian imperialism.

The state-owned media outlets, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), joined with Fox-owned Sky News to televise enthusiastic, breathless commentary. As well as the inevitable homage to the bloodbaths of the two imperialist world wars, International Fleet Review saluted the RAN’s involvement in such brutal neo-colonial enterprises as the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the 1991 Gulf War on Iraq, the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Even Operation Resolute—the ongoing use of the Navy to intercept boats carrying desperate refugees and prevent them from claiming asylum in Australia—was proudly projected as worthy of acclaim.

ABC, SBS shills for AU fascist criminals

The media-backed festivities continued throughout the week. Last Sunday and Monday, many thousands paid to make guided tours of the warships and tall ships, as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity”, while military bands performed throughout the city. On Wednesday, around 4,000 sailors from several countries marched through Sydney’s central business district, flanked by cheering and flag-waving onlookers, with yet another fly-over of the city by military helicopters. The week-long event formally ends today, as the convoy of warships leaves Sydney Harbour.



The glorification of the armed forces has become an ever more prominent feature of Australian social life. Between 2008 and 2012, the Rudd and Gillard Labor government created three additional days honoring the military and requiring annual services—Bombing of Darwin Day, Battle for Australia Day (1942–43 Pacific War) and Merchant Navy Day—on top of Anzac Day and Remembrance Day. The Anzac Day marches on April 25 have become ever-more jingoistic, with school children in particular drawn into annual patriotic services. In 2012, Labor allocated a budget of more than $80 million to the centenary of Anzac Day—the hundredth anniversary of the Gallipoli landing in 1915.

As with Hitler, AU fascist government now using kid propaganda

Absent from all these events is any critical examination of the actual history and role of Australian imperialism and its military forces over the past century.

Ten months after the fledging Australian imperialist state reviewed its new fleet in Sydney Harbour in 1913, the First World War began. The leader of the Labor Party, Andrew Fisher, infamously declared that Australia would fight for the British Empire to “the last man and the last shilling.” Within days, Australia’s new warships had been dispatched to attack the German colonies in the Pacific, and hunt down German ships in the Indian Ocean.

The Royal Australian Navy subsequently escorted the transport ships that carried the tens of thousands of young Australians, deluded by imperialist propaganda, who were sent to the trenches of Gallipoli and the Western Front. Out of a population of just 4.5 million—of whom 416,000, or 8 percent, joined the military—Australian casualties in World War I were some 60,000 dead and at least 156,000 wounded. For sending a generation of youth to the slaughter, the Australian ruling elite was rewarded by its British patrons with colonial control over New Guinea, New Britain and Bougainville, former German possessions.

Having been kicked out of Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt and the rest of the Middle East, U.S., AU fascist regimes now set their sights on ASEAN, where invasion plans have been drawn up for every country, beginning with oil and resource-rich Indonesia - quote:  It could even prove necessary, in a future conflict, to help establish and secure bases in the Indonesian or Philippine archipelagos

Barely 20 years after the “war to end all wars”, the Second World War erupted. Once again, Australian troops, ships and planes were sent off to Europe and North Africa to support British imperialism. After the entry of Japan into the war, the Labor government of Prime Minister John Curtin transferred Australia’s allegiance to the rising power of the United States, as the British Empire began to crumble in Asia. This time, the Australian military served as junior partner to US forces, as they fought to establish American dominance over the region. For much of the Pacific War, Australia served as a critical staging base for the American military.

The new strategic relationship established by Labor with Washington was cemented in 1951 with the signing of the Australia-New Zealand-United States (ANZUS) military alliance. As they had previously done for Britain, after World War II Australian governments sent forces to various conflicts as payment for US patronage. Canberra also hosted American bases and supported US policies in every part of the globe. In return, Washington has assisted the Australian ruling class assert its own imperialist interests in the South Pacific and South East Asia, and more generally on the international arena.

The ongoing role of Australian imperialism as the junior partner of the US was the subject of the less public, but more serious event that coincided with the International Fleet Review. The “RAN Sea Power Conference 2013” began on Monday and featured three days of discussions on geo-political relations and naval issues in “Indo-Pacific Asia” by current and former defence ministers, retired and serving naval commanders and a plethora of strategic analysts. The subtext of the various lectures was the growing US-China rivalry and military tensions.

Less than one year after the patriotic celebrations that attended the launching of the Royal Australian Navy in October 1913, the assassination of an Austrian archduke by a Serbian nationalist in far-away Europe provided the spark that ignited World War I—the most disastrous war, to that point, in the history of mankind. Exactly one hundred years later, flashpoints from the Korean peninsula to the South China Sea, created by the provocative encirclement of China by the US and its allies throughout the region, including Australia, are creating the potential for an even greater global catastrophe.

Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The 5^th Estate.

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc.  We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.

 

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Fracked Oil Spill Disaster In North Dakota Of 865,200 Gallons Among Biggest Onshore Spills In Recent U.S. History

A dead industry attempting to squeeze the last drops of profit, complete the poisoning and destruction of what is left of U.S. environment - as if the Gulf spill were not enough they now push the envelope as coward American sheep dumbly look on

GLOBAL RESEARCH
By Steve Horn
10/11/2013

Over 20,600 barrels of oil fracked from the Bakken Shale has spilled from a Tesoro Logistics pipeline in Tioga, North Dakota in one of the biggest onshore oil spills in recent U.S. history. 

 

 

Amazing, coward Americans will put up with anything

Though the spill occurred on September 29, the U.S. National Response Center – tasked with responding to chemical and oil spills – did not make the report available until October 8 due to the ongoing government shutdown.

“The center generally makes such reports available on its website within 24 hours of their filing, but services were interrupted last week because of the U.S. government shutdown,” explained Reuters.

The “Incident Summaries” portion of the National Response Center’s website is currently down, and the homepage notes, “Due to [the] government shutdown, some services may not be available.”

At more than 20,600 barrels – equivalent to 865,200 gallons - the spill was bigger than the April 2013 ExxonMobil Pegasus pipeline spill, which spewed 5,000-7,000 barrels of tar sands into a residential neighborhood in Mayflower, Arkansas. 

 

 

So far, only 1,285 barrels have been cleaned, and the oil is spread out over a 7.3 acre land mass.

Kris Roberts, environmental geologist for the North Dakota Department of Health Division of Water Quality told the Williston Herald, ”the leak was caused by a hole that deteriorated in the side of the pipe.” 

 

 

Sure.  Everything else has been polluted and destroyed, why not go for the whole banana?

“No water, surface water or ground water was impacted,” he said. “They installed monitoring wells to ensure there is no impact now or that there is going to be one.”

Roberts also told the Herald he was impressed with Tesoro’s handling of the cleanup:

“They’ve responded aggressively and quickly,” Roberts commented, also noting that the cleanup will cost upward of $4 million. “Sometimes we’ve had to ask companies to do what they did right off the mark. They’re going at this aggressively and they know they have a problem and they know what they need to do about it.” 

 

 

Criminal oil companies, Congress, White House pimps destroy what is left of America for yet more plunder and profit

Tesoro Logistics Chairman and CEO Greg Goff also weighed in on the spill:

“Protection and care of the environment are fundamental to our core values, and we deeply regret any impact to the landowner,” said Goff in a press release. “We will continue to work tirelessly to fully remediate the release area.”

Pipeline to Albany Refinery, Barging on the Hudson

Tesoro’s six-inch pipeline was carrying oil obtained via the controversial hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) process to the Stampede, ND rail facility. From Stampede, Canadian Pacific’s freight trains take the oil piped from Tesoro’s pipeline and ship it to an Albany, NY holding facility by Global Partners located along the Hudson River. 

 

 

“Over five years, the equivalent of roughly 91 million barrels of oil will be transported via CP’s rail network from a loading facility in Stampede, N.D., to a Global terminal in Albany,” explained a September story appearing in the Financial Post.

Albany’s holding facility received its first Canadian Pacific shipment from the Bakken Shale in December 2011, according to Bloomberg, with 1.4 million barrels of storage capacity. The facility receives 149,000-157,000 barrels of Bakken crude per day from Canadian Pacific. 

 

 

Weld County Colorado fracking disaster covered-up by media

Once shipped to Global’s Albany holding facility, much of the oil is barged to market on tankers along the Hudson from the Port of Albany.

“As much as a quarter of the shale oil being produced in North Dakota could soon be headed by rail to the Port of Albany,” explained an April 2012 article appearing in the Albany Times-Union. “The crude oil…will be loaded onto barges to be shipped down the Hudson River to refineries along the East Coast.”

North Dakota Petroleum Council Responds

North Dakota Petroleum Council’s response to the largest fracked oil spill in U.S. history and one of the biggest onshore spills in U.S. history? Ho-hum.

“You know, this is an industrial business and sometimes things happen and the companies are certainly responsible to take care of these things when they happen,” Petroleum Council President Ron Ness told KQCD.

John Berger, Manager of Tesoro’s Mandan, ND, refinery, sits on the Petroleum Council’s Board of Directors.

Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The 5^th Estate.

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc.  We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.

 

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U.S. Shutdown Talks : White House And Republicans Fail To Agree Deal

A deal isn't in the script - yet:  Boner and Obama still have plans for the gutting of Social Security and Medicare, as coward American sheep wring their hands and tremble in the shadow of White House and Congress criminals

THE GUARDIAN
By Dan Roberts
10/11/2013

White House talks with Republicans failed to reach an agreement to end the budget crisis on Thursday evening, but a marked change in tone from the particiants suggested a deal to end the protracted standoff could finally be in sight.

 

 

Boner, Obama laugh it up over cowardice of American sheep

Discussions between Barack Obama and House speaker John Boehner broke up after 90 minutes with no specific agreement, but both sides said discussions would continue to prevent the US defaulting on its debt obligations.

Earlier, Boehner sent stock markets soaring by offering to pass a temporary six-week extension to the US debt limit that the Treasury estimates will be reached on 17 October.

Republicans are also under pressure to lift their refusal to pass a separate spending authorisation, which precipiated a partial shutdown of the government, leading to the lockout of an estimated 800,000 federal workers.

Obama has insisted on at least a temporary reprieve from both threats before he would agree to negotiate over Republican demands to repeal his healthcare reforms and cut spending.

 

 

On Thursday night, it appeared the president had chosen to stand his ground, although the language was less hardline than earlier. In a statement, the White House said: "After a discussion about potential paths forward, no specific determination was made.

"The president's goal remains to ensure we pay the bills we've incurred, reopen the government and get back to the business of growing the economy, creating jobs and strengthening the middle class."

Some initial reports claimed the president had rejected Boehner's debt ceiling offer outright, but the White House statement left open the possibility that a deal was near. "The president had a good meeting with members of the House Republican leadership this evening," added the statement. "The president looks forward to making continued progress with members on both sides of the aisle."

Republican leaders told CNN they had "a good honest discussion" that did not lead to a "yes or no" from the president. Nevertheless Senate Democrats were sceptical about accepting the Republican offer of talks until the threat of continuing government shutdown was also removed.

 

 

"Mainstream media" aids and abets Congress criminals

"Not going to happen," declared majority leader Harry Reid, standing outside the White House after he and fellow Democrats met with Obama before the Republican meeting.

Earlier White House officials had given a cautious welcome to the Republican offer, but stressed they would need to see the exact wording before deciding if it was enough to proceed with formal talks.

The president is "happy that cooler heads seem to be prevailing," said spokesman Jay Carney, adding: "We would prefer to see a longer term resolution."

Republicans have been under intense pressure from business leaders and party donors to avoid a possible US default by removing the debt ceiling threat from their arsenal. But there is no guarantee that the more conservative Republicans in Boehner's caucus will support it.

US stock markets soared on news of a deal. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day 323 points higher (up 2.18%). The S&P 500 rose over 36 points (2.26%). Keith McCullough, CEO of investment adviser Hedgeye, said investors had been nervous about the talks. "I changed by views on the US markets three times yesterday. That can't be good for anyone," he said. "People are sick and tired of Boehner, Obama, Bernanke or whoever dominating the markets."

 

 

U.S. military personnel once again get the shaft from Obama

He said he was hopeful that Washington would now concentrate on "larger issues" like cutting back on the Federal Reserve's massive economic stimulus programme rather then these "sideshows".

PNC Bank senior economist Gus Faucher said: "This is an indication at least that we will get a deal on the debt ceiling. That's what has been worrying investors more than the government shutdown."

Faucher added, however, that the uncertainty was already a drag on the economy, and failure to reach a deal on the debt limit would have a "significant negative and long-lasting impact".

Earlier on Thursday the Treasury secretary Jack Lew warned there were unpredictable consequences of the continued brinksmanship, including the possibility that the US could run out of cash within days.

 

 

Obama's smoke blowing days are over

Lew accused Republicans of underestimating the danger of inadvertently triggering a stampede among investors that could rapidly drain remaining reserves.

More than $100bn (£63bn) of the US debt, known as Treasury bonds, is typically reissued every week as investors roll over their loans to the government.

This process is usually routine and does not add to the $17tn US debt pile, but simply refinances a portion of it. But markets have already been spooked by Republican threats to refuse to extend the debt limit if they do not extract concessions on healthcare reform.

Short-term borrowing costs nearly tripled in a bond auction on Tuesday as investors feared there was a risk that interest and capital repayments could be missed.

 

 

Der Fuehrer's message to homeless, Seniors, Veterans

A similar wariness to roll over bonds expiring next week could exhaust a $50bn cash reserve at any point, warned Lew. "Trying to time a debt limit increase to the last minute could be very dangerous," he said in written congressional testimony.

"If US bondholders decided they wanted to be repaid rather than continuing to roll over their Treasury investments, we could unexpectedly dissipate our entire cash balance."

Answering written questions by members of the Senate finance committee, he added: "I very much fear that miscalculation is something that could have devastating consequences. It is impossible to predict with any degree of accuracy when we will run out of money."

Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The 5^th Estate.

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc.  We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.

 

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