[Deleted for abuse and thread hijack.]

Dear Prof. Barry,

Americans have problems of equal or greater magnitude of those of all other nations of this planet and would be wise for their people to direct their attention to the solution of their own problems.

Kindly, leave us sort out ours by ourselves, and, if you believe that sending your marines is not right, kindly prevent them from leaving your country to come here.

Australians did not forget that they were Overpaid and Oversexed when they were Over-Here”

About 20% of active US military personnel are women. About the only role they are excluded from is frontline infantry. They operate artillery (which kills civilians indiscriminately), they fly combat aircraft (which kill civilians somewhat more discriminately).

Does the author also decry their roles? Why no mention?

Be afraid, men of Darwin...

Kathleen Barry may well have had her own agenda in publishing this article, one perhaps not saluted to the extent she may have hoped or expected, but notwithstanding, its publication on OLO serves a purpose in providing for the recording of other perspectives upon something that came as a bolt from the blue to most Australians. Perhaps that very surprise is a major reason for the lack of comment.

There is an aspect to this proposed US military deployment that has perhaps gone unnoticed by many Australians, one perhaps not emphasised at the time the deployment was announced. That was one as to the availability of both established military training areas and, presumably, remote and sparsely populated areas of the continent for use by US forces in NON-joint training exercises. On its own perhaps not too disturbing, but in the context of recent and/or proposed US legislation giving powers of arrest and indefinite detention without charge or trial over US citizens within the US itself, such free-ranging of 'exercising' US forces throughout Australia becomes at least equally disturbing to perceptive Australians as it doubtless will be to many already exposed to it in the US.

If such powers come to be exercised or even threatened over US citizens within the US, why would Australians not expect them to be exercised by US forces stationed in Australia over those Australians who, in the US government view, were to be considered 'dissidents'?

This is a consideration that has come to light since the publication of Profesor Barry's article. I am making this post to keep the comments thread to the article open to any further posting as, perhaps, some Australian eyes may start to open to this, to many, unrequested surprise. Several other current OLO articles may shed some light on other aspects of the deployment. See:

http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=12913&page=0 . 'Trashing the Treaty of Lombok'.

http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=12985&page=0 . 'Australia going solar: gonna cost ya mate.'

Links are to the ARTICLES, not their comment threads. In my opinion some things said therein have largely gone unnoticed.