Change We Can Believe In, XXV
Change We Can Believe In: Empire First
On his visit to Australia three weeks ago, President Obama announced plans, as reported in the NYT,
to deploy 2,500 Marines in Australia to shore up alliances in Asia … . The agreement with Australia amounts to the first long-term expansion of the American military’s presence in the Pacific since the end of the Vietnam War. It comes despite budget cuts facing the Pentagon … .
In an address to the Australian Parliament on Thursday morning, Mr. Obama said he had “made a deliberate and strategic decision — as a Pacific nation, the United States will play a larger and long-term role in shaping this region and its future.”
I was more than a little surprised by this news. “Cuts facing the Pentagon”? I’ll believe that when I see it, what with Secretary of Defense Panetta decrying defense cuts, our wars continuing without end, indeed expanding (via drone at least) to new countries every year, and the vast domestic intelligence operation growing with bipartisan support.
At what cost? I leave it to Ted Rall to tell us:
[Ted Rall, at gocomics.com]
