The Obama administration’s determination to unnecessarily damage
America’s relations with its best friends and allies apparently
continues unabated.
Britain has been infuriated by America’s “neutrality” over
the Falklands or Malvinas, relations with Israel have reached the
lowest point in 50 years over new buildings in Jerusalem, many see
as a betrayal the cancelling missile bases in Eastern Europe, and
there has been the pointless and destructive interference in
Honduras.
As well as damaging relations with old friends, there is
not the slightest indication that any of this has won a single new
friend. It has not resulted in Hugo Chavez or President Ahmadinejad
emitting one flake of spittle less when raving against the U.S.
Planning permits for new churches or cathedrals in Mecca have
remained thin on the ground.
Now Australia looks like being added to the list of
insulted allies. President Barack Obama has dropped plans to visit
Australia. Twice in the past year, a visit to Australia and
Indonesia has been proposed, then canceled. On Friday Obama
announced that he will visit Indonesia later this fall, but not
Australia.
This does not mean huge damage to the Pacific alliance. It
is far too strong for that. But Australia has troops fighting at
America’s side in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is the only country that
has fought beside the U.S. in every major war the U.S. has been
involved in for the last hundred years, losing about 300 men dead
in Korea and 500 dead in Vietnam. It has also possibly been the
most consistent of all countries in supporting the U.S. in the
United Nations. U.S. Navy ships are frequent visitors to Australian
ports.
Having the U.S. as a strong protector has been the
cornerstone of Australian foreign policy, the beginnings of which
can be traced back to the visit of the Great White fleet in
1908.
Talk of Australia looking to a new protector in China can
be dismissed as sensational fantasy, although of course there is
always an adversary-culture Left ready to exploit reasons for
anti-Americanism, real or manufactured. Already these are
commentators wondering loudly why Australia is sacrificing
soldiers’ lives in Afghanistan on behalf of an ally who evidently
doesn’t take it seriously. It is a small but real gift to America’s
enemies and a small but real blow to its friends. The media play a
part in creating political opinion. So do speeches by politicians.
So does talk in pubs. In all these spheres Obama has made defending
the American alliance just that little bit more difficult. And for
what? For nothing.
Given that Obama is visiting Indonesia (which to the best
of my knowledge has never fought as an ally of America’s), it would
be perfectly easy for him to make a stop-over in Australia (the
cynical might suggest that his schedule of activity is such that no
one would miss him taking the few hours’ time out which this would
entail).
The real point is not any possible damage to
Australia-U.S. relations. The real point is that it is a further
indication that the Obama administration doesn’t care about allies
and is apparently incapable of joined-up thinking.
The situation recalls the old saw about the battle and the
kingdom being lost for the want of a horseshoe nail. Slighting
Australia might be a small and passing thing in itself, but it
could have large consequences.
If Australia feels slighted enough to pull troops out of
Afghanistan ahead of the U.S. (and given the fact it has a
left-of-center government, though an unstable one, this is
possible), other countries could easily follow.
Britain has a much bigger commitment than Australia (and
has lost more than 300 dead in Afghanistan so far) and is desperate
to save money. The British Navy, which wants to keep its promised
aircraft carriers, and the Royal Air Force, which wants more
fighters and new transports, could both be powerful lobbies to pull
the Army out of Afghanistan to save their pet projects.
Australia pulling out could give them the leverage they
need, and with Britain gone as well the other allies would quickly
follow, leaving the entire burden to the U.S., both in terms of
lives and treasure. Churchill once said something to the effect
that having allies in a war can be frustrating, but not having them
is worse. My personal opinion is that for the U.S. to pull out of
Afghanistan need not be a disaster, and it will have to happen
sooner or later anyway, but it should not be done simply as the
result of a snowballing of unintended consequences.
All this ties in with another point: the snub to Australia
can only tend to reinforce the notion that the Obama administration
simply doesn’t know or care about foreign policy, or who its
friends are.
