US suspends arms deliveries to Estonia, Finland's situation unclear

Finland does not comment about the status of its weapons stockpiles or acquisitions, according to Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen (NCP).

https://yle.fi/a/74-20221995

#Finland #DefenceMinister #WeaponsStockpiles #Acquisitions #Transparency

#Australian #DefenceMinister #RichardMarles says the success of #Australia’s #alliance with the #UnitedStates should not be measured against a single #president or federal government in Canberra, insisting the longstanding ties will endure.

#Trump has repeatedly criticised Australia for not assisting with the #IranWar, while federal #Labor, including Marles and Prime Minister Anthony #Albanese, say the #WhiteHouse has not made any specific request for assistance.

Speaking on ABC TV on Sunday, Marles said close ties to #Washington remained in the Australian national interest.

“I think it’s really important for all Australians to understand how significant the relationship is, and that the relationship is not one that should be measured in the context of any given US administration, or, for that matter, any given government in Australia,” he said.

“We’ve had the alliance in place since 1951 ... this is a long term strategic alliance in the national interest of our country, based on the fact that our two countries have shared values. We have both democracy [NO!], we both have the rule of law [NO!], we both have freedom of speech [NO!], and all of those endure well beyond governments of and any persuasion on either side.

“This continues to be a critically important relationship for Australia, and it will be for decades to come.”

#YeahNah #auspol #NeverTrustTrump #uspol #TrumpRegime #FromTheRiverToTheSea

The #Senate this morning debated a #bill that will require #both #houses of #Parliament to vote before the #Government can send #Australians to #wars overseas.

90% of Australians support this reform with most astounded that the Parliament does not already have this reform.

The #Albanese #Labor Government and the #Liberals #oppose this.

Both are committed to keeping the decision to send Australians to war as a #secret decision made by a handful of #cabinet members with no democratic #oversight.

Currently, in Australia, the #PrimeMinister or #DefenceMinister can #unilaterally take Australia to war with no parliamentary oversight before that decision is made.

#Polling has routinely shown an #overwhelming #majority of Australians want there to be parliamentary oversight prior to the #deployment of #troops.

War power reform bills have been proposed in various forms for over 20 years, but have been routinely rejected by the Liberal and Labor parties.

The Albanese Labor Government has sent 85 military personnel, including an RAAF E-7A Wedgetail aircraft and medium-range air-to-air missiles, to the #UAE.

This decision was made in a closed room by a handful of Labor cabinet members, with zero parliamentary or public engagement or consent.

We now know that the information collected by the E-7A Wedgetail is being provided to the #US in this disastrous war of choice on Iran.

Senator #DavidShoebridge, Greens spokesperson on Defence and Foreign Affairs, said: "The Albanese Labor Government has dragged Australia into another US #foreverWar, and the public never got a say.

"Having Parliament vote before sending a country to war is common in #democracies. That is the case in #Germany, #France, #Finland, #Denmark and #Spain, to name a few. But the war parties here want to keep making that decision in a dark room that only they can enter.

"The majority of Australians do not support #Trump and #Netanyahu's war on Iran or the Albanese Labor Government backing it in. This is why the war parties are so resistant to giving Australians a say on this latest disastrous war.

"We are living through the chaos of a war that was supported by a handful of powerful people without public consent. If we had this law in place, then the Government would have had to justify their position before committing troops and the public would have had a chance of stopping it.

"Right now we are seeing death and violence spreading across the #MiddleEast, and Australians are feeling the #economic #impacts with cost-of-living increases and #chaos.

"Australians should decide if we go to war, not #Washington, not a handful of people in the war parties and not #Trump.

"We needed this law before #Vietnam, before #Afghanistan, before #Iraq and we certainly need it now." #auspol

#Coalition frontbencher #AndrewHastie has declared anyone who thinks the rules-based order still exists is living in a “fantasyland”, amid an escalating #USIsrael #warOnIran, and as the government confirmed #Australian troops in the region were safe after a weekend drone strike.

Australian #troops posted at the defence force’s headquarters in the #UnitedArabEmirates are all accounted for after a weekend #dronestrike, the federal government said, amid the growing conflict sparked by US and Israeli #bombings in Iran.

The #defenceminister, #RichardMarles, confirmed on Tuesday all Australian troops working at the #AlMinhad #airbase were uninjured in the strike, which came as Iran launched #retaliatory attacks on nearby countries following strikes led by #DonaldTrump, and Israel’s prime minister, #BenjaminNetanyahu.

“All the Australians who are there are safe and accounted for,” Marles said on Tuesday.

“We’ve got more than 100 personnel across the Middle East. Most of them are in the #UAE where we’ve had an operational headquarters at Al Minhad for many, many years now.”

It comes as the #Albanese government defended the bombings, amid #criticism from #internationalLawexperts that the US and Israel had acted #withoutlegalauthorisation.

Marles said Iran had been seeking to acquire a nuclear weapon, which breached international non-proliferation agreements, but said it was a “matter for the #UnitedStates and #Israel to justify the legal side of their actions”.

“But there’s absolutely no doubt that the world could not trust Iran in terms of what it was doing with its #nuclearprogram,” Marles said. “And it is utterly essential for global security that Iran be prevented from acquiring this capability.”

Liberal MP Andrew Hastie however dismissed those concerns about the #international #rulesbasedorder, saying it was “nice to talk about” but irrelevant when #Trump acted as an “#ApexOpportunist” in the #WhiteHouse.

“I don’t think that exists any more, and anyone who says it does is living in a fantasyland. This is a #newworldorder.

“I think the world is governed by power, and I prefer a powerful US re-establishing deterrence, rather than other countries like Russia, you know, using might to advance its national interest.”

But Hastie, an SAS veteran, warned war “is a very, very risky business” and said Iranians could be wondering if they are “trading one #tyrant for another”.

“It’s a blunt instrument for regime change, which I think is part of Donald Trump’s strategy.

“I’m circumspect about #regimechange, having been involved in the wars of the last 15 to 20, years, and we’ll watch closely,” he said.

Australia has maintained a smaller force at Al Minhad airbase since the end of operations in #Afghanistan. Last year, Defence said there were about 50 core #ADF staff and a total of 70 to 80 Australians at the base at any time.

Known as #HQME, the headquarters has supported ADF missions and contingencies since 2003.

Contingency planning to help the 115,000 Australians in the region is under way in #Canberra, including moves to help thousands of travellers caught up in #airlinedisruption.

The #foreignaffairsminister, #PennyWong, spoke with her counterpart in the UAE, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on Tuesday.

He said the UAE was working hard to safely allow flights out of the country, and confirmed that Australians affected by travel disruptions in the UAE were being accommodated and provided with meals.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was working through thousands of registrations from the UAE and other countries to confirm the situation and welfare of Australian citizens, permanent residents and their dependants.

#auspol #AlbaneseIsAWimp #USPol #TrumpRegime #RogueNation