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| Australian, American and Chinese soldiers training together in the Northern Territory, in early May 2015 |
World War II, Korea, even the Vietnam wars were all long ago. (Mostly due to reporting restrictions) even the Iraq and Afghanistan wars seem in the distant past, for Australians. Whole generations have passed since Australia last deployed tens of thousands of troops at a time to an American War Zone.
It could never happen again, we are told, Australians would never tolerate such large deployments, and the subsequent death tolls.
And yet, the chances of Australia being drawn into a full-blown conflict between China and the United States may have never been higher.
At least, that's the message some are trying to get out. It's not so much a warning, as a 'Well, You Better Get Used To This New Reality' PR campaign. Is the public already being softened up for another World War? One that would draw in Australia?
From here:
The source was anonymous. But the mouthpiece has a measure of
credibility. High profile military analyst and former US Naval War
College lecturer John Schindler tweeted last week: “Said a senior NATO
(non-US) GOFO to me today: ‘We’ll probably be at war this summer. If
we’re lucky it won’t be nuclear.’ Let that sink in.”
The warning comes as Europe engages in some of its biggest
ever war games — right on Russia’s front door. It’s a deliberate ploy,
intended to remind Moscow of the consequences of its duplicitous
invasion of Ukraine.
Half a world away, the “w” word was mentioned again yesterday.
This time in an editorial by a Chinese state controlled paper. Said the Global Times:
“If the United States’ bottom line is that China has to halt its
activities, then a US-China war is inevitable in the South China Sea.”
It came as China’s government effectively declared a “no fly zone” over the disputed waterway after warning the US over its “provocative” aerial reconnaissance of several islands.
China
is maintaining its stance that its aggressive construction work on
disputed islands in South-East Asia is no different to building highways
or public facilities anywhere else on the mainland. Such is its
determination that these disputed territories are its own.
Combined,
the increasingly threatening talk is causing many to take notice:
High-profile US Billionaire investor George Soros told the World Bank
last week: “If there is conflict between China and a military ally of
the United States, like Japan, then it is not an exaggeration to say
that we are on the threshold of a third world war."
Early in
May, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation began one of its largest
ever war-games. The naval anti-submarine exercise was designed to send a
message after a series of aggressive
Russian submarine incursions into the territorial waters of Baltic States such as Latvia, Finland and Sweden.
Last month, a number of Baltic State defence ministers issued a
statement condemning Russia’s activities, once again declaring its old
Cold War enemy their “biggest threat to security”.
Russia
retaliated by highlighting the deepening relationship between neutral
Finland and Sweden with NATO was a “special concern”.
Some 18
warships and submarines took part in the oddly named exercise, “Dynamic
Mongoose”. It involved 10 NATO members and the otherwise neutral Sweden.
It came just weeks after NATO members — including Britain —
sent tanks and troops to conduct live-fire exercises with Estonia: Once
again an act designed to send a signal to Russia — keep your hands off
the Baltic States. The tiny Baltic state separated from the former
Soviet Union in 1991.
This week saw the launch of a third major
NATO military exercise: Combat jets from the US, UK, Germany, France,
Switzerland and the Netherlands have gathered in Finland, Norway and
Sweden for extensive Arctic combat drills over 12 days.
Russia has not been idle in its response. It has teamed up
with ally China to conduct war-games in the Mediterranean Sea. The
10-day operation ended last week after the two world powers boldly
displayed their warship muscle in the equivalent of Western Europe’s
backyard ‘swimming pool’.
Yesterday, Chinese officials responded to US military overflights and a probing visit by one of its warships.
“For
a long time, the US military has been conducting close-in surveillance
of China and the Chinese military has been making such necessary, legal
and professional response — why did this story suddenly pop up in the
past weeks?” Senior Colonel Yang Yujun commented yesterday.
“Has the South China Sea shrunk?”
“Some people have been intentionally and repeatedly hyping
this topic. Their purpose is to smear the Chinese military and dramatise
regional tensions. And I’m not ruling it out that this is being done to
find an excuse for certain country to take actions in the future.”
That country is, of course, the United States. And Australia is the United States most loyal military ally. If the US starts a war with China, Australia starts a war with China.
Don't expect any fightback from PM Tony Abbott, or most of the Australian Parliament if it comes down to that. Abbott would revel in the media opportunities of such a vast and deadly conflict.
