Australia hosts massive war games
Pastor Dale Morgan
Australia hosts massive war games
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Barbara McMahon in Sydney
Wednesday June 13, 2007
The Guardian
A record 27,500 American and Australian troops, along with a carrier
battle group, 30 ships, two nuclear submarines and more than 100
aircraft, are gathering in Queensland for a massive military exercise.
Exercise Talisman Sabre, which will see troops in land, sea and air
operations, has already attracted the ire of peace and environmental
activists. Military sources said the three-week exercise would test
airborne operations, amphibious landings and new military equipment,
including communications as well as lightweight combat backpacks for women.
Soldiers will be trained in a mock town built at a new urban warfare
training centre. Protesters have said a central building in the "town",
which will be peopled with "civilians" and which will have simulated
bombs, is meant to represent a mosque but sources call it a generic
cultural centre.
Australian defence spokeswoman Lieutenant Barbara Butler said the
facility at Shoalwater Bay base was "an incredible system, like a
paintball game except 1,000 times more complex". "It's got tunnels and
looks like something out of Mogadishu with real villagers and
merchants," she said.
Peace activists are planning protests in Queensland next week.
Environmentalists say the site is too near the Great Barrier Reef and
Aboriginal heritage sites. A military spokesman said forces may redeploy
if marine mammals are seen.