Australia must be ready to send troops into battle once again
PARIS, (BM) – Tensions around Taiwan, the militarization of the South China Sea, border disputes between Beijing and New Delhi, a North Korea which is relaunching its nuclear activities, conflicts and other territorial lusts, jihadist-inspired terrorism, etc. ‘accumulate in the Indo-Pacific region, with an increased risk of “miscalculation”. Some Australian officials noted this on Anzac Day on April 25.
- Australia is arming itself. What will the ‘kangaroos’ buy with the new defense budget?
- Because of China, India found Australia as its military ally
- The Australian military develops an AI technology to airborne search and rescue
Thus, the new Australian Minister of Defense, Peter Dutton, expressed concern about a possible conflict involving China and Taiwan, which also earned an immediate call to order from Beijing. “It is hoped that the Australian side will fully recognize the great sensitivity of the Taiwan issue, respect the one-China principle, be careful in its words and actions while refraining from sending false signals to the Taiwanese separatist forces” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on April 26.
Tried to join Mr. Dutton in the Defense Ministry, the current Secretary of State for Home Affairs, Mike Pezzullo, was not very optimistic in a message published on Anzac Day. Based on quotes from American generals Douglas MacArthur and Dwight D. Eisenhower [who will be president of the United States between 1953 and 1961 – ed.], he indeed estimated that Australia should be ready to “send, a once again, [his] warriors in battle.”
“Throughout his presidency, [General] Eisenhower instilled in the free nations the belief that as long as the threat of tyranny against freedom persists, they must remain armed, strong, and ready for war, even as they deplore the curse of war” Pezzullo recalled.
“In a world of perpetual tension and terror, the drums of war can be heard beating, sometimes faintly and far and at other times louder and closer and closer,” the Australian official continued. Yet today, he continued, “free nations hear the drumbeats again and watch with concern the militarization of problems that we thought, until recent years, we’re unlikely to be catalysts of war.”
However, for Mr. Pezzullo, we must continue to seek the chances of peace unceasingly, while preparing ourselves again, once again, for the curse of war. Because, he added, if everything is to be done “to reduce the risks of war”, it must not be “at the cost of our precious freedom.”
“War might well be madness, but the greater madness is wanting to ward off the curse by refusing to think about it and pay attention to it, as if in doing so the war might leave us, perhaps forgetting about us to be,” concluded Mr. Pezzullo.
While its relations with China have deteriorated considerably in recent years, Australia updated its White Paper on Defense in July 2020, precisely to better consider the developments observed in the Indo region. Pacific and counter the Chinese power. Over the next decade, Canberra plans to invest 166 billion euros in strengthening its military capabilities, representing a 40% increase in defense spending.
***
Follow us everywhere and at any time. BulgarianMilitary.com has responsive design and you can open the page from any computer, mobile devices or web browsers. For more up-to-date news, follow our Google News, YouTube, Reddit, LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook pages. Subscribe to our Newsletter and read our stories in News360App in AppStore or GooglePlay or in FeedlyApp in AppStore or GooglePlay.