Yes, well, the US does have most powerful military. They have it so they use it as an instrument of foreign policy.

Australia is reliant on the American military alliance, so we are right with America whenever it invades a country - Vietnam..Afghanistan..Iraq. We also share America’s interest in ensuring our energy security (mainly oil) by force of arms.

The saddest thing is the all the civilians killed in America's wars.

However the relationship is more complex - without American diplomatic and military pressure on Indonesia Australia could never have led INTERFET into East Timor in 1999.

Without America's help East Timor would still belong to Indonesia and many more East Timorese would have been tortured and killed by the Indonesians.

So the world is always controlled by military power - the most influential determinant. America is on top now but China is around the corner.

Pete
see http://gentleseas.blogspot.com/2006/07/losing-war-on-terror.html

With 30,000 more troops America should really be able to kick some Talibutt.
Finally Obama is doing something right.

Compared to WW1 and WW2 of course, the wars since have been only sideshows.

The worry is that the Afghanistan War seems just a mixture of American payback for 9/11 with what looks like a neo-colonial necessary takeover for America and Co to keep a grip on the Muslim Near East.

One might suggest that if 30,000 US troops can finish the problem, a few Western admittances should go along with it.

A major one of course, should be about the reason that Bin Laden broke away from his Western-style family to be the dangerous terrorist that he has become.

Simply the fact that he became angrily fed up with the way the US had over 100,000 troops permanently planted in Saudi Arabia and precincts.

Also he was no doubt disgusted with how Western influences the in Saudi Arabia never seemed to do the ordinary Saudi any good.

As a Western Australian nurse experienced with the Saudis.

No effort to train the ordinary Saudi Arab, better to pay Westerners to do even some of the lower status jobs.

The reality of the matter is that the US is the most serious threat to global security there is at the moment. Their policies are confrontational and they have no concept of any other ideology than the one that they preach. The problem is that not everyone agrees with their policies or ideologies nor should they. They have the worst record in the world when it come to domestic policy and the support and welbeing of their own citizens at home. Yet we are all supposed to curtail to this American ideal of how the world should be. American capitalism is the worst posible outcome for any nation and should be avioded at all costs. Democracy is obselete. Profits dictate policy and the average person is merely a casualty of capitalist profitering. The sooner the world wakes up to this the better. America is a bully who uses military might to push their own agenda on a world trying desperately to resist their tyranical oppression.

Bushbred,

I think you'll find that it's been acknowledged that plans to invade Afghanistan were in place well before 911 so it wasn't really about payback but the stalled construction of an important oil pipeline.

Afghanistan is strategically important as a distribution point for oil and gas from the Caspian region to India, China and Japan.

Likewise Iraq for it's resources.

Despite Bin Laden's quasi-religious facade he is also a businessman, and the real intention is to reclaim the supply and distribution of Middle Eastern oil from the West. Power will come from wealth, not slogans.

This region has been politically, economically (and militarily) raped by the US and Britain for the last century and now a baby has been left on their doorstep.

Unfortunately there's no real way out now and replacing two despotic regimes with two corrupt ones is no permanent solution.

Here we go again more yank bashing by the verbal masturbation crowd.
For starters Bushbred; Saudi Arabia hasn’t had an agreement for troops to be stationed in their country since 2003. The trouble is your assuming, again wrongly, that you know what you’re talking about.
Next you state that an Orstralian nurse was badly treated by the Saudis’. So what are you doing having two bob each way?
Next daron c. The reality is that the Bali bombings killed a lot of innocent people including a few Australians, which going by the motley collection of comments posted thus far , isn’t such a great loss , however there has to be a stand on terror.
Perhaps if the Islamic radicals blew the crap out of your "twin towers” killing estimated 4500 souls, then you might be the first to stand up and complain.
Next (and this one’s straight out of the classic pig ignorance awards), the ww1, and ww2 comment about significance of war. What would you call the Korean War a turkey shoot, Vietnam War 1954 to 1975, the gulf wars, the Russians in Afghanistan for 13 years, the USA in Afghanistan for 6 years and still no end in sight.
Next rache , first read the above because it all applies to you , but specifically , nice Mr. bin laden is a business man so that makes it ok huh, if that’s so what’s your bitch about the USA . Power? You’re a hypocrite and don’t know it. What you overlook is the world’s constantly at war. There’s, Somalia, Ethiopia the …..Damn it looks it up for yourself !
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ongoing_conflicts
As for the strategic importance of Afghanistan could you please elucidate, I am all ears. The trouble with you holier than thou types is your all quoting from the same level of BS that infects all those that wish to find fault.
Fix up your own country first. Not even a signatory to human rights bill.
What bunch of hypocrites?