The American military controlled base at Pine Gap is about to leap back into the news, as Autralia's role in helping co-ordinate drone attacks that have killed more than 3500 people in Pakistan comes under legal scrutiny.
Not surprisingly, there's very little public information about Pine Gap, or what goes on there. This gap in factual knowledge has led to some extraordinary, bizarre theories. Here's one of the wildest, from the late 1970s.
Showing posts with label Pine Gap. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pine Gap. Show all posts
Monday, August 12, 2013
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Terrorist Google Earth Porn
Does the apparent lacklustre concern from the Department of Defence about the below story exist because the DoD regards terrorist attacks on Australian military bases as highly unlikely?
The Northern Territory News :
That's surprising.
Unless the American military and spy agencies, like the Australians, regard the chances of terrorists even attempting to mount air or ground attacks on Pine Gap as very unlikely indeed.
Does the apparent lacklustre concern from the Department of Defence about the below story exist because the DoD regards terrorist attacks on Australian military bases as highly unlikely?
The Northern Territory News :
Terrorists can get a detailed birds-eye view of every Defence facility in the Northern Territory from the comfort of home.
...high-quality satellite images of all the NT bases - including Robertson Barracks which is home to about 3000 soldiers - have been published on Google Earth.
And Defence is not concerned.
"The ADF does not comment on details of security but is aware of the capabilities of imaging devices and takes appropriate measures to manage the threat," it said.
The Northern Territory News then helpfully lists major Defence bases that are on display, online, so terrorists don't have to spend time Google-Earthing.
The NTN also points out that :
They're right. It is :...even the joint Australia-US Pine Gap military base near Alice Springs is on show.
That's surprising.
Unless the American military and spy agencies, like the Australians, regard the chances of terrorists even attempting to mount air or ground attacks on Pine Gap as very unlikely indeed.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Australia Set To Join US 'Missile Defence Shield'
By Darryl Mason
Australia is now entering into the first official stages of joining the US 'missile defence shield'. The word being used is "research", but that's not how China and Russia are going to interpret the move by Australia to "develop its own missile defence system".
It's hardly a secret that the US wants its more strategically positioned allied nations to develop, in tandem, missile defence systems which can be eventually linked up to a global missile shield system, with the United States as the main beneficiary.
The expansion of the US missile defence shield into Eastern Europe has now set Russia's teeth on edge, and they've publicly pledged to counter any moves by the United States to establish missile bases, however small, close to its borders.
It will be interesting to see how China reacts to Australia becoming formerly involved in the US missile defence shield, which is widely reported to serve as both a defensive and offensive system, with the publicity centring around the 'defensive' aspects of what will eventually become the a 'missile shield' encompassing the globe.
You can dismiss most of what the federal government spokesmen have to say on just how far along Australia is with such 'missile shield' development plans, their vague explanations are unlikely to be accurate or truthful :
Will Australian then be the third partner in this network of 'missile shield defence' bases discussed above? It certainly appears so.
Of course, it's just "research" at this stage.
There has been no official reaction from China to the news of what Australia is planning, but it will come, and it is expected to be as strong as Russia's reaction to US missile shield creep along its borders with Eastern Europe.
Australia's defence budget in 2008 is, officially, in the vicinity of $22 billion. An extraordinary amount of money for defence for a country of only 21 million people that faces no direct threat in its region.
Australia has close, peaceful and trade-rich ties with China and Indonesia. There is no reason why even long-term defence forecasters should be presuming that Australia will be facing such a threat as to be needing a multi-billion dollar missile defence system, or even to become part of the American 'missile defence shield'.
If Australia joins the US and Japan in the expansion of this 'missile defence shield', you can expect the 2009 defence budget to soar beyond $26 billion, or more.
Missile defence doesn't come cheap. Just ask the Americans. Some unofficial estimates claim that since the early 1980s, when the project was known as 'Star Wars', the United States has spent close to $1 trillion in research and development.
But be under no illusions. If Australia is going to find protection under this 'shield', it will have to pay to join the club, and it will have to pay big.
But to what benefit? Australia will become a target of Russia and China primarily because it develops such missile 'defence' capabilities, and ties them into an American system, not because we lack them.
February, 2007 : New US Spying Base Means Australia Is Pre-Committed To All Future American Wars In Our Region
By Darryl Mason
Australia is now entering into the first official stages of joining the US 'missile defence shield'. The word being used is "research", but that's not how China and Russia are going to interpret the move by Australia to "develop its own missile defence system".
It's hardly a secret that the US wants its more strategically positioned allied nations to develop, in tandem, missile defence systems which can be eventually linked up to a global missile shield system, with the United States as the main beneficiary.
The expansion of the US missile defence shield into Eastern Europe has now set Russia's teeth on edge, and they've publicly pledged to counter any moves by the United States to establish missile bases, however small, close to its borders.
It will be interesting to see how China reacts to Australia becoming formerly involved in the US missile defence shield, which is widely reported to serve as both a defensive and offensive system, with the publicity centring around the 'defensive' aspects of what will eventually become the a 'missile shield' encompassing the globe.
You can dismiss most of what the federal government spokesmen have to say on just how far along Australia is with such 'missile shield' development plans, their vague explanations are unlikely to be accurate or truthful :
For more on why Australia sees an important and extremely expensive need to join with the US and Japan on the development of a global 'missile defence shield', there is this thoroughly illuminating analysis from Global Research (excerpts) :The Howard Government is considering the extent to which Australia will become involved in the planned missile defence system.
But a trilateral missile research agreement involving Australia, the US and Japan would further antagonise China, which already has concerns about the defence ties between Washington, Tokyo and Canberra.
There is a strong possibility the Royal Australian Navy's new air warfare destroyers, due to enter service in 2013, will eventually be equipped with SM-3 missiles, which are designed to intercept incoming missiles outside the earth's atmosphere.
Ballistic missile defence is one of the key issues being debated under the newly formed trilateral security dialogue taking place between the US, Japan and Australia.
"Japan and the United States will work together with Australia to strengthen security in the Asia-Pacific region," a senior official at Japan's Defence Ministry told the Nikkei newspaper.
Australia and the US are already co-operating far more closely on missile defence research under a 25-year agreement signed in 2004.
(Australian defence minister) Dr Nelson said recently that the memorandum of understanding would allow Australia to explore practical ways of assisting the US to build a global missile defence system.
This would allow Australia to leverage US technology and ensure mutual development of specific technologies and approaches that would underpin the missile defences of both nations.
Canberra and Tokyo are now in the process of updating an agreement on defence co-operation following the signing of a new bilateral defence agreement by John Howard and his Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe, inMarch.
NATO is determined to expand its membership circle and to expand its mandate. Ultimately NATO is slated to become a global military force. Moreover, part of the objectives of NATO as a global military alliance is to ensure the “energy security” of its member states. What this signifies is the militarization of the world’s arteries, strategic pipeline routes, maritime traffic corridors used by oil tankers, and international waters.So what does all this have to do with Australia?
The February 7, 2007 Congressional testimony of the U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates...confirms that the United States, aside from Iran, still considers China and Russia as potential adversaries. Secretary Gates told the U.S. Senate that both Russia and China posed threats to the United States: “In addition to fighting the ‘Global War on Terror,’ we also face (…) the uncertain paths of China and Russia, which are both pursuing sophisticated military modernization programs.”
The reaction of the Russians has steadily become more and more apprehensive as they realize that they are being encircled. It has been for quite some time that Russia, China, and their allies have slowly been surrounded. China faces a militarized eastern border in Asia, while Iran has virtually been surrounded, and Russia’s western borders have been infiltrated by NATO.
NATO expansion continues despite the end of the Cold War and promises from the military alliance that it would not expand. Military bases and missile facilities are encircling China, Iran, and the Russian Federation.
The military projects being propelled by the United States, several NATO allies in Europe (namely Britain, Poland, and the Czech Republic), and the Japanese for the establishment of two parallel missile shield projects, threatens both Russia and China. One missile shield will be located in Europe and the other missile shield in the Far East. These missile shields are being elevated under the pretext of hypothetical Iranian and North Korean threats to the United States, Europe, South Korea, and Japan.
There has been a gradual naval build-up around China. This includes an increase in the submarine squadrons of the Asia-Pacific region. An Australian report published by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) has warned that an Asiatic arms race is underway. The report writes; “In an arc extending from Pakistan and India through Southeast Asia and up to Japan there is a striking modernization and [military] expansion underway.”
The U.S. Pacific Fleet is also placing greater strategic importance on the island of Guam in the Pacific Ocean as the U.S. deepens its collaboration with Australia, Singapore, the Philippines, and Japan to militarily encircle China further.The subject of North Korean ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons is presently being used as an ideal basis for further encircling China in the Far East.
Will Australian then be the third partner in this network of 'missile shield defence' bases discussed above? It certainly appears so.
Of course, it's just "research" at this stage.
There has been no official reaction from China to the news of what Australia is planning, but it will come, and it is expected to be as strong as Russia's reaction to US missile shield creep along its borders with Eastern Europe.
Australia's defence budget in 2008 is, officially, in the vicinity of $22 billion. An extraordinary amount of money for defence for a country of only 21 million people that faces no direct threat in its region.
Australia has close, peaceful and trade-rich ties with China and Indonesia. There is no reason why even long-term defence forecasters should be presuming that Australia will be facing such a threat as to be needing a multi-billion dollar missile defence system, or even to become part of the American 'missile defence shield'.
If Australia joins the US and Japan in the expansion of this 'missile defence shield', you can expect the 2009 defence budget to soar beyond $26 billion, or more.
Missile defence doesn't come cheap. Just ask the Americans. Some unofficial estimates claim that since the early 1980s, when the project was known as 'Star Wars', the United States has spent close to $1 trillion in research and development.
But be under no illusions. If Australia is going to find protection under this 'shield', it will have to pay to join the club, and it will have to pay big.
But to what benefit? Australia will become a target of Russia and China primarily because it develops such missile 'defence' capabilities, and ties them into an American system, not because we lack them.
February, 2007 : New US Spying Base Means Australia Is Pre-Committed To All Future American Wars In Our Region
Thursday, February 15, 2007
New US Military Spying Base Means Australia Is Now Pre-Committed To All Future American Wars
The Pine Gap listening station near Alice Springs
The West Australian district of Geraldton got marked up on China and Russia nuclear target lists yesterday, if they weren't there already.
The small town, 420 km north of Perth, is expected to become host to one of the most sensitive US military installations in Australia, if not the world.
Pity no-one told the mayor about it first.
For some three years, the Australian government and the Pentagon have been working on plans for the high-tech communications base, designed to act as a key link between geostationary Pentagon satellites.
Reports on this evening's news claimed the base would be 'unmanned'.
Who's going to guard it? Robots?
Well, probably.
The base will play a key role in all future American wars in the Middle East and Asia, claimed one radio report.
Future American wars in Asia and the Middle East? How many are planned exactly?
Five? Ten?
Or just one real big quick one?
It's interesting to note that virtually no-one outside of the government or Defence Department, including the council of Geraldton, appears to have had any idea this facility was in the works.
Considering this will join the Pine Gap listening station, at Alice Springs, and the US submarine communications base in the North West Cape, as key targets for some international nuking should any of these proposed "future wars" become a reality, you might have supposed that Australians would have been told about all this long before the plans were finalised.
Or not.
The building of this base, and the possibility of more US military bases to come, commits Australia to joining the United States in any future wars they may feel they need to wage.
Such a commitment is locked in solid (any opposition or debates will be democracy by wasted breath), as we could hardly expect to adopt a neutral status when we are an essential hub for United States military, spying, and surveillance capabilities across most of Asia, including China and Indonesia.
The announcement of the new base certainly solved some of the mystery of why General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs Of Staff, was in Canberra and Sydney earlier in the week, and perhaps explains a bit more about exactly why US Vice President Dick Cheney is arriving in Australia in a few days time.
The official line is Cheney is hear to thank Australia, and Australian troops, for helping to fight the War On iraq.
Unofficially, he is also here to discuss how Australia might make use of the dozens of second-hand Abrams tanks we recently purchased from the United States.
The tanks were not designed for jungle warfare, or even for tooling along the muddy tracks of East Timor. These are desert tanks, perfectly suited for a desert somewhere like, say, the desert region along the border with Iran.
From The Melbourne Age :
More Blogs By Darryl Mason
Go Here For The Latest Stories From 'The Bird Flu Blog'
Go Here For The Latest Stories From 'The Fourth World War' Blog
Go Here For The Latest Stories From 'The Last Days Of President Bush'
Go Here For The The Latest Stories From 'Your New Reality'
--------------------------------------------------
Said General Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Of Staff, of his visit to Australia :
Promises To Allow Australia Access To Intelligence From New Base
Australians Are Overdue For A Debate On The Nature Of The "Security" We Get From The American Alliance
The Pine Gap listening station near Alice Springs
The West Australian district of Geraldton got marked up on China and Russia nuclear target lists yesterday, if they weren't there already.
The small town, 420 km north of Perth, is expected to become host to one of the most sensitive US military installations in Australia, if not the world.
Pity no-one told the mayor about it first.
For some three years, the Australian government and the Pentagon have been working on plans for the high-tech communications base, designed to act as a key link between geostationary Pentagon satellites.
Reports on this evening's news claimed the base would be 'unmanned'.
Who's going to guard it? Robots?
Well, probably.
The base will play a key role in all future American wars in the Middle East and Asia, claimed one radio report.
Future American wars in Asia and the Middle East? How many are planned exactly?
Five? Ten?
Or just one real big quick one?
It's interesting to note that virtually no-one outside of the government or Defence Department, including the council of Geraldton, appears to have had any idea this facility was in the works.
Considering this will join the Pine Gap listening station, at Alice Springs, and the US submarine communications base in the North West Cape, as key targets for some international nuking should any of these proposed "future wars" become a reality, you might have supposed that Australians would have been told about all this long before the plans were finalised.
Or not.
The building of this base, and the possibility of more US military bases to come, commits Australia to joining the United States in any future wars they may feel they need to wage.
Such a commitment is locked in solid (any opposition or debates will be democracy by wasted breath), as we could hardly expect to adopt a neutral status when we are an essential hub for United States military, spying, and surveillance capabilities across most of Asia, including China and Indonesia.
The announcement of the new base certainly solved some of the mystery of why General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs Of Staff, was in Canberra and Sydney earlier in the week, and perhaps explains a bit more about exactly why US Vice President Dick Cheney is arriving in Australia in a few days time.
The official line is Cheney is hear to thank Australia, and Australian troops, for helping to fight the War On iraq.
Unofficially, he is also here to discuss how Australia might make use of the dozens of second-hand Abrams tanks we recently purchased from the United States.
The tanks were not designed for jungle warfare, or even for tooling along the muddy tracks of East Timor. These are desert tanks, perfectly suited for a desert somewhere like, say, the desert region along the border with Iran.
From The Melbourne Age :
(the base) will provide a crucial link for a new network of military satellites that will help the US's ability to fight wars in the Middle East and Asia. The base...will control two of five geostationary satellites - those with the highest priority parked over the Indian Ocean to monitor the unstable Middle East. Building may start within months.
A visiting fellow at the Australian Defence Force Academy, Philip Dorling, said that once the base was operating it would be almost impossible for Australia to be fully neutral or stand back from any war in which the US was involved.
The network will provide frontline military units instantly with high quality intelligence information, graphics and maps. All this information will be carried in unbreakable codes.
Story continues below....
------------------------------------------------More Blogs By Darryl Mason
Go Here For The Latest Stories From 'The Bird Flu Blog'
Go Here For The Latest Stories From 'The Fourth World War' Blog
Go Here For The Latest Stories From 'The Last Days Of President Bush'
Go Here For The The Latest Stories From 'Your New Reality'
--------------------------------------------------
Defence Minister Brendan Nelson also took the opportunity to disclose that "talks were continuing" on proposals from the US Defence Department to build ground stations for an entity named the 'Mobile User Objective System'.
When Brendan Nelson says "might" in connection with US military plans in Australia, we know to translate this as "definitely will happen".More ground stations might be built at other locations in Australia, he said.
Said General Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Of Staff, of his visit to Australia :
"The thing you always get out of these meetings is a greater understanding of our joint endeavors...
"We talked extensively about Iraq, Afghanistan and some of the other areas around the world where we are being challenged by forces that stand for something completely opposite to what we believe in.
"We believe in a free and democratic world, a world where people can pursue their own interests in a free and open way.
"I think we share the same value set, and we stand against the people who want to change that."
Pace is being purposely vague, but I think he's talking about New Zealand.
Promises To Allow Australia Access To Intelligence From New Base
Australians Are Overdue For A Debate On The Nature Of The "Security" We Get From The American Alliance
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