As the people in the Gulf countries are now learning, having a great and powerful friend on bases across your territory and in your waters does not guarantee safety. Indeed it may make you a target.
It’s a lesson worth heeding. Australia has long been host to the crucial US communications facility at Pine Gap but is now spending billions to integrate its territory into the American war machine – most notably HMAS Stirling near Perth, which will be home to four US nuclear submarines and up to 1,000 American troops. Darwin has become a hub for tens of thousands of American troops on forward deployment.
