Australia’s defense minister says they cannot rely on the United States as a security guarantor.
QUICK FACTS:
- Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles has cautioned that the Indo-Pacific is “far too fragile” to rely on the United States as Australia’s security provider..
- Marles made his comments during a keynote address to the Sydney Institute annual dinner on Nov. 14, where he said the Australian Defence Force (ADF) must be strengthened.
- The nation’s defense leader was particularly concerned about military capabilities in terms of lethality, resilience, and readiness to enhance self-reliance.
- According to Marles, two previous strategic reviews indicate that Australia could be in a threat window that might last for years.
DEFENSE MINISTER’S COMMENTS IN PART:
- “The reality is that a tougher environment will require a more hardnosed Australian approach to the defense of our interests: the ability to project power to shape outcomes and deter threats,” Marles said. “We must marshal and integrate all arms of national power to achieve Australia’s strategic objectives.
- “Gone are the days of simply paying the entry price to obtain our security guarantee from our security guarantor. The world and our region is far too precarious for that. We will have to be willing—and capable—to act on our own terms, when we have to,” Marles said.
BACKGROUND:
- United States troops have warned that extreme “woke” culture could be harming the military, particularly those in special operations.
- American Faith previously reported that several current and former members of the U.S. military are raising concerns about what they call a culture that prioritizes “wokeness” over training and combat effectiveness.
- The service members pointed out that President Biden’s Secretary of the Army has defended the entity’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs as “important.”
- “The military is extremely woke,” one service member told Fox News Digitial, while another said the leadership in the Army specifically, is very “woke.”
- The military members who spoke to journalists are pointing to the current cultural situation for recruiting challenges which have reached record-breaking levels for the all-volunteer force.
