I genuinely dont understand how a nation as outgoing, adventurous and rugged as Australia has gone down its current authoritarian , locked down, defenceless route.
Me neither. I'm constantly shocked at my fellow Australians. Sometimes I think we wouldn't care if China invaded. The complete apathy over the most extreme loss of freedoms with covid is a worrying insight to our future.
Both Australia and Florida were subjected to the original Covid strain in 2020, Florida decided to turn this into a contest of ideological values, with the numskulls in the GOP "winning" (I suppose). The results are there for all to see. Allowing the virus to rip saw 33,500 persons lose their lives up until March 31, 2021 (prior to the arrival of the Delta strain). In contrast Australia's politicians were pragmatic and less ideological. Our centre-right Federal government worked with right and left state governments to suppress the virus. It tightened the nations borders, quarantined most international arrivals and cranked up a system of contact tracing of those infected. The strategy was geared around reducing the flow of infected people entering the country, identifying them and isolating them and their close contacts. The approach paid off - just 909 deaths recorded up until March 31. Normalizing the data - Florida's cumulative deaths totalled 156 deaths per 100,000 (national total 169 deaths/100k). Australia just 4 deaths per 100K. So - having witnessed the mess created by dysfunctional GOP politics, we in Australia would rather - if you don't mind - not follow your example. This system also delayed the seeding of the delta strain by several months. The delta strain is far more contagious than the original strain, spreading faster than efforts to identify cases, contact trace infected persons and isolate infected persons. And we know from overseas experience, once a base of delta infections reaches a critical mass, the rate of spread outpaces suppression measures. That is the urgency that drives draconian measures aimed at reducing mobility and personal interaction. These measures are aimed at buying time for contact tracers to identify and isolate, before the virus spread swamps the population. Th measures also buy time for our paltry vaccination rates to lift beyond 70% which will take until the end of October. Because Australians - as a sovereign people - value preserving the lives of our citizens and have chosen to support actions to suppress the virus. The paranoid libertarian right in the US - suggesting it is a slippery slope - have impaired judgment. Covid is a once in a century event. The overwhelming majority of Australians hate these restrictions - it is bad for businesses, causes social problems. We are not idiots. We are aware of the costs, but see them as necessary. Hopefully, when vaccination rates rise high enough, we will learn to live with Covid and some semblance of normal life will return.
A public service, John and Jim. Good Old 'She'll be right mate', complacent Oz. Time for a BIG wake-up. I hope every Australian sees this! All strength to you both. Keep it up!
The US and west have done nearly everything to strengthen China. We trained their scientists and engineers, we outsourced production and associated technology, and we buy their products.
Thanks John and Jim 👍 We need to rebuild national pride and confidence in the people. We’re a very lucky country and must defend our freedom and be self reliance.
Why isn't Senator Molan the Defence Minister. He has a wealth of knowledge and is honest and articulate. Every voting Australian should view this video.
@@Timiscool1321 Agree. At the I made my comment a lack-lustre female incumbent held the position. Merit and experience must always outweigh gender. I would welcome any person, regardless of gender, with qualities and experience similar to the likeable Senator
Australia need to strongly look at nuclear powered AND armed subs. The UK Dreadnought SSBN program would be ideal. We could partner with the UK instead of the dodgy frogs - I hate to say it but Australia is close to requiring a nuclear weapons delivery system to create a serious deterrent throughout the 21st century. If Australia had 6 Dreadnought class subs each with 12 Trident missiles with 8 MIRVS - no one would fuck with us
Great conversation, good insights from the Senator. I appreciate his optimism about the spirit of Australia but the current governments, state and federal, are dividing people in a way that will work against national unity if war does come to our shores. I would be interested in hearing a conversation with the Senator about what we can do to counteract this division being created between the vaccinated (the good) and the unvaccinated (the bad). Some now see others as the enemy, which I fear will have grave consequences if we do need to fight together to protect this nation. It seems this division presents an opportunity for an enemy to strike, while we are weakened from within.
Future historians - mark down this talk - and the scenario of Chinese attack that Molan outlines - as indicating that some of us, at this time, know the dangers we face and support a major build up in Aust defense capability.
The ADF procurement processes manage to stuff up nearly everything they are tasked with aquiring. Tiger Helicopters not ready for combat operations, F18G Burns up on runway before it leaves the US. The Collins class subs. The Shortfin Barracuda subs. Hmas Choules blowing up a $5mill transformer, just after procurement from the Royal Navy. Wanting and affording new weapons is one thing but implementing their procurement seems to be beyond the Australian military. Can government sort this out before the next "hot" conflict? I hope so.
Why won't the government do their job and protect us, anyone with a brain will back them if they give people like Jim Molan a platform to explain the situation. Peace through strength.
Australia cannot afford to match China militarily in a conventional sense. The only path to real deterrence is nuclear. I suggest that Australia follow the Israeli strategy of ambivalence, not saying whether or not nuclear weapons exist in Australia. At the same time, I suggest that Australia purchase a large number of nuclear submarines that match or exceed the capabilities of Chinese nuclear subs. These subs should have the capacity to launch nuclear-tipped missiles, though no mention should be made of the missiles actually having nuclear warheads. It's up to Australia to decide if it wants nuclear weapons. Think of it this way: China has far, far more to lose in a nuclear exchange than Australia in lives and treasure.
If there ever was ever a time for the "5 eyes" (along with English speaking India and with Japan and South Korea) to be strong and united it is now in the face of the bullying from the CCP. I fear Australia and New Zealand are easy pickings for China and would represent tempting targets from a natural resources point of view.
With our USA sec def more worried about white rage and woke ideology idiocy, I apologize for our flailing alliance. Every nation is under struggle between liberty and tyranny. Our assumptions of liberty is being attacked. May God go with us.
Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum ( If you so desire peace prepare for war). Australia lacks a National Security Strategy and relies too heavily of White Papers. The last White Paper that resembled a National Security Strategy was the 1986 White Paper - The Defence of Australia by Professor Paul Dibb.
I was on the staff - as a seconded officer - of CJTF-7 in Iraq for the first year after the invasion. There was no strategy there either. What I did observe was a lot of petty back-biting between the US military Commander (Sanchez) and the US Political lead (Bremmer); even at my level it was clear the two hated each other and were determined to get in each others way.
The problems of the USN are far deeper. USS Ford has yet to fully replace Enterprise that was retired some yeas ago. (and just scrapping Enterprise is going to cost a lot) They have lost Bonne Homme Richard due to the arson attack without a replacement. The LCS classes have been a complete failure. The Ticonderoga's are being retired without replacement (USN wants to retire 7 this year) with only a couple of destroyers being built to replace them.. Nimitz is also not far from retirement. Even the Zumwalt destroyers class can be viewed as a failure since the USN doesn't plan to buy ammunition for their guns. The shipyard facilities are run down and overworked. You also have the situation that the Marines are restructuring completely and are ditching their tanks and a lot of helicopters. They have no dedicated replacement for the EA-6B Prowler since they didn't buy Growler's and will have to add pods to F-35's to do the role.
Fantastic presentation thank you both for your insights on this topic. As an ordinary Australian I would have to side with Jim Molan that with the right will we could be the Pacific version of Israel. And without having to share a border with anyone we could seriously defend ourselves, we need a defence force that will exact such a cost on an enemy that he will think twice before attacking. 🇦🇺👍
Enjoyed a great conversation between two gentlemen of clarity. There, as here, we share a common problem that has been a difficulty for some time: leftist termites so greatly interested in undermining societal values. More interested in that than building anything of value. Perhaps the intention is demolition to the end of replacing what has been traditionally valued, but the prominence of leftist activity and thought is far, far greater than the value of its "contributions".
One of the gifts of the Enlightenment period was its emphasis on having regard to facts when forming a view, rather than engage in magical thinking, or shaping the "facts" to justify a pre-determined view. This is the trap you have fallen into. Both Australia and Florida were subjected to the original Covid strain in 2020, Florida decided to turn this into a contest of ideological values, with the numskulls in the GOP "winning" (I suppose). The results are there for all to see. Allowing the virus to rip saw 33,500 persons lose their lives up until March 31, 2021 (prior to the arrival of the Delta strain). In contrast Australia's politicians were pragmatic and less ideological. Our centre-right Federal government worked with right and left state governments to suppress the virus. It tightened the nations borders, quarantined most international arrivals and cranked up a system of contact tracing of those infected. The strategy was geared around reducing the flow of infected people entering the country, identifying them and isolating them and their close contacts. The approach paid off - just 909 deaths recorded up until March 31. Normalizing the data - Florida's cummualtive deaths totalled 156 deaths per 100,000 (national total 169 deaths/100k). Australia just 4 deaths per 100K. So - having witnessed the mess created by dysfunctional GOP politics, we in Australia would rather - if you don't mind - not follow your example. This system also delayed the seeding of the delta strain by several months. The delta strain is far more contageous than the original strain, spreading faster than efforts to identify cases, contact trace infected persons and isolate infected persons. And we know from overseas experience, once a base of delta infections reaches a critcal mass, the rate of spread outpaces suppression measures. That is the urgency that drives recent draconian measures aimed at reducing mobility and personal interaction. These measures are aimed at buying time for contact tracers to identify and isolate, before the virus spread swamps the populaton. The measures also buy time for our paltry vaccination rates to lift beyond 70% which will take until the end of October. Because Australians - as a sovereign people - value preserving the lives of our citizens and have chosen to support actions to suppress the virus. The paranoid libertarian right in the US - suggesting it is a slippery slope - have impaired judgment. Covid is a once in a century event. The overwhelming majority of Australians hate these restrictions - it is bad for businesses, causes social problems. We are not idiots. We are aware of the costs, but see them as necessary. Hopefully, when vaccination rates rise high enough, we will learn to live with Covid and some semblance of normal life will return.
I completely support the Aussies demanding greater autonomy and/or say in strategic goals. However, ya’ll are slipping down the rabbit hole with the whole lockdown thing. Your resembling China more and more every month.
Both Australia and Florida were subjected to the original Covid strain in 2020, Florida decided to turn this into a contest of ideological values, with the numskulls in the GOP "winning" (I suppose). The results are there for all to see. Allowing the virus to rip saw 33,500 persons lose their lives up until March 31, 2021 (prior to the arrival of the Delta strain). In contrast Australia's politicians were pragmatic and less ideological. Our centre-right Federal government worked with right and left state governments to suppress the virus. It tightened the nations borders, quarantined most international arrivals and cranked up a system of contact tracing of those infected. The strategy was geared around reducing the flow of infected people entering the country, identifying them and isolating them and their close contacts. The approach paid off - just 909 deaths recorded up until March 31. Normalizing the data - Florida's cummualtive deaths totalled 156 deaths per 100,000 (national total 169 deaths/100k). Australia just 4 deaths per 100K. So - having witnessed the mess created by dysfunctional GOP politics, we in Australia would rather - if you don't mind - not follow your example. This system also delayed the seeding of the delta strain by several months. The delta strain is far more contageous than the original strain, spreading faster than efforts to identify cases, contact trace infected persons and isolate infected persons. And we know from overseas experience, once a base of delta infections reaches a critcal mass, the rate of spread outpaces suppression measures. That is the urgency that drives draconian measures aimed at reducing mobility and personal interaction. These measures are aimed at buying time for contact tracers to identify and isolate, before the virus spread swamps the populaton. Th measures also buy time for our paltry vaccination rates to lift beyond 70% which will take until the end of October. Because Australians - as a sovereign people - value preserving the lives of our citizens and have chosen to support actions to suppress the virus. The paranoid libertarian right in the US - suggesting it is a slippery slope - have impaired judgment. Covid is a once in a century event. The overwhelming majority of Australians hate these restrictions - it is bad for businesses, causes social problems. We are not idiots. We are aware of the costs, but see them as necessary. Hopefully, when vaccination rates rise high enough, we will learn to live with Covid and some semblance of normal life will return.
@@dweller6065 Might as well stay down as as Lambda & Epsilon are coming and boosters will be needed ad nauseum. There will always be good reasons for draconian measures. G’luck getting them rolled back.
@@Grgrrr Of course the onus is on our democratically elected governments to ensure actions they take are lawful, consistent with the constitution, can be justified and subject to democratic accountability. Ultimately voters here will punish those governments they believe have misjudged. We have a Federal election early next year. But Americans - particularly the libertarians - are focused on the wrong set of issues. Given the MASSIVE loss of life that has taken place in the US - 50% more than deaths in WW2 - the onus is really on US fed and state governments to explain why they choose inaction and allow such a catastrophe to unfold. There were measures available that would have kept US deaths to one-quarter or less of what has occurred. But libertarian fundamentalists - who display zero common sense when faced with a pandemic - prevented such an outcome. Those excess deaths are on them - it is a crime against humanity of Stalinist proportions. Yet US libertarians think arresting a few teenagers partying on a beach is a bigger deal. How much evidence does it take for you to consider - let alone admit - that you are wrong?
@@dweller6065 When my own physician tells me that he’ll lose his license if he recommends anything other than taking the vaccine then information stopped being scientifically based. When my licensed friends in frontline medicine tell me that reporting of C19 deaths has been financially motivated since the beginning then it’s clear that the data collection has been compromised. When studies coming out of Israel suggest stronger resistance to a greater number of C19 proteins, over a longer period of time, from natural infection then it becomes more suspect that the decisions are based on politics and not medical reality. When the FDA’s own report on Pfizer C19 vaccine authorization excludes data incorporating Delta variant then I pretty much call BS. There’s no way to talk about numbers of people dying without injecting emotion (which makes you an asshole if you reject the emotional basis) but here it is. I, personally, have never payed attention to the number of deaths per minute, hour, day, week, month nor year of Americans much less every human being on this planet. I’ve never lived tracking how many died to influenza, pneumonia, ARDS, COPD, heart disease, cancer, auto accidents or any other myriad ways that human beings die. They’re keeping a running tally of C19 deaths that doesn’t even reset at the per annum. It’s a medical “War on Terror”. Now maybe you support govn’t over-reach in the name of safety but I don’t. The Patriot Act and continuation of the National Defense Authorization Act here in the US have been used to justify some of the most horrible abuses in US history. Think now that the US is out of Afghanistan that those encroachments will be rolled back? Not on your life. What you permit your govn’ts to do will remain long after your dead.
@@Grgrrr I'm open to the idea that death stats attributable to Covid maybe overstated. Then again they might be understated, as the US has a lot of poor people who die at home. See - how your bias responds to contrary data? Arranging the facts to suit a political view. I could say to you to look at stats of excess mortality as demographic trends are quite stable over time, but that would be a waste of time. Enjoy your little trip. Thank goodness I don't have to share a political system with such nutjobs.
We could build up airforce number quickly by building gen 3 or 4 jets. Cheaper proven tech. Still capable and would support the lesser numbered and more expensive 5th gen jets. Same for naval and ground force tech.
52:50 " ... too many younger people think all wisdom resides with them ... " May I quote you on the inevitable Dunning-Kruger impact of lack of sufficient experience?
National security for years have been bi partisan. Enough of that and take on Albanese and all his mates and stake out a position on national security.
As an American, I completely agree with you. Our leaders made all these defense agreements before the majority of us were born without our consent. Meanwhile, while our taxes pay for NATO and a sprawling imperial army, the Australians, G.B., Canada and all of western Europe get universal health care, free university education and a much greater social safety net. Us, here in the USA get ever increasing health insurance, tuition rising by leaps and bounds every year on top of an unaccountable bloated military. So, the people of this country would be grateful if the rest of the “allies” shouldered some of the burden.
This Australian hears and agrees with you. Australia must increase its defense spending. One thing you need to know is that the US government spends more per person on health for worse outcomes than most other free countries that use a socialized health care scheme.
My uncle said Australian millitary only suitable for peace keeping force, they are still a boy soldier . The former US State secretary Henry Kissinger once said " To be an enemy of America can be dangerous, but to be a friend is fatal" . and the winner is Mr Anderson? Minh Sun
Regardless of the party in power in Canada our military has been neglected for decades. We cannot defend our borders. I am sure the US National Guard alone could easily invade and take over Canada if these so chose to do so.
Writing as one of those gun-loving 'muricans, I wouldn't want to risk my kid's life (if I had a kid in the military), our soldier's lives, U.S. cities and U.S. lives to defend gun-control nations, unfortunately as New Zealand, Australia and the U.K. with exception of Northern Ireland have become. People own guns so they can defend freedom amongst other things. When people vote away their freedom to own tools for the defense of self and freedom, it indicates an underlying unwillingness to fight for freedom, or vote for it, or vote to defend it. If China was to take over tiny New Zealand, being so far away, it would have little to no effect upon the U.S. Let people fight for their own freedom.
Australia must understand, like Rome America's retreat from a military power is largely driven by an military economic complex is failing. The USA does not have the economic power to continue being the world's policeman. Therefore Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, Canada, the UK Singapore and other democracies will have to step up in Asia and the Pacific, or accept Chinese hegemony. Taiwan must be defended at any cost.
@@BruceD1776 We can not rely on a Biden like US administration to protect us, Taiwan or any other democracy. That is why we need the CANZUK alliance. Britain has nukes! I think Australia needs a nuclear industry and nuclear subs. 3 or 4 conventional weapons can do as much damage as a nuke warhead so we need missiles which can take out China, their dams and infrastructure, we don't need nuclear weapons. I would put the money into accurate missiles and missile defense.
If Australia had not removed the vast majority of long arms from their patriot citizens they would have many more ground fighters ready and willing to defend their homeland at a moment's notice.
Elky, nonsense is expecting us gun-loving, freedom-loving Americans to put the lives of our soldiers' and people at risk to defend a gun-control nation such as yours that offends our freedom-loving values. Giving up your guns is a sign that you do not love freedom enough to defend it. If you loved freedom, you wouldn't foreswear means to defend it. People who would surrender their guns are not worth defending. Fight for your own freedom, gun-controller. Don't expect sacred American youth and people to die for such a putrid cause as gun-control. Learn to defend yourselves. Get your own guns and nukes,
@@BruceD1776 Interesting view. I thought what was being defended here is freedom of association, freedom of speech, of political assembly, of representation, of free and fair elections, protection of private property rights, protection of human rights. But you only mentioned the right to bear arms. In fact you are suggesting that the US should not have any mutual defence alliance with any country that does not share your love of guns. Fair enough. You have more in common with Russia, the drug cartels of Latin America and your friends the Taliban (who were on TV the other day, did you notice?) than the liberal democracies. But I take great comfort in the knowledge that you represent a nutty fringe that masquerades as the mainstream. Why don't go off and let off some steam. I can only wonder how...
@@dweller6065 Of course we value all those other rights. Why do you think we own guns, but to defend those rights? The question is are you willing to risk life and limb to defend those rights. Because if you are not, you will not have those freedoms for long. People advocate gun-control out of fear and lack of love of freedom because they'd never use a gun to defend it, and because they regard the government as morally superior to themselves that government can own guns but the people cannot. If you Aussies are so scared of guns, are you willing to risk life and limb to defend your freedom against Red China without gun-loving 'murican help? Or would you guys be "Hong Kongized" i.e. allow Red China to dictate your domestic political policy via military intimidation? Whole lotta islands just north of you from which Red China could project power - Malaysia, Indonesia, New Guinea. All the CPC's gotta do to those nations is bribe & intimidate, bribe & intimidate, bribe & intimidate, and the Commies will have bases (and millions of troops out of 1.4 billion population) to threaten Australia and New Zealand. Without a love for freedom, enough love to demand guns to defend it, you'll fold to Red Chinese intimidation. You'll consider their authoritarian system not that bad, not worth fighting, so you'll submit. You wrote, "But you only mentioned the right to bear arms. In fact you are suggesting that the US should not have any mutual defence alliance with any country that does not share your love of guns." Yes, I am. Exactly. People who are willing to give up their guns will more readily give up their freedom. Would they be dependable in such alliance? Would they be a net drain upon us? Why should we make alliance thereby putting our youth at risk and our cities at nuclear risk to defend policies we abhor? So long as you have those laws on the books, defending your government defends those laws. You wrote, "You have more in common with Russia, the drug cartels of Latin America and your friends the Taliban (who were on TV the other day, did you notice?) than the liberal democracies." Maybe we do. Whenever I get into an internet discussion with a Russian about guns or gun policy, it usually takes the form of the Russian envying our freedom wishing he had the same freedom in Russia or arguing over which is the best battle rifle - the AK-47 or the M-16. And the conversation usually ends in mutual respect, brothers in arms, maybe our countries can resolve differences. Whereas, usually when I get into an internet discussion with a British Commonwealth (BC) person about guns and gun-policy, it usually consists of the BC person false-righteously berating the U.S. about guns, freedom, and lack of gun-control. The conversation usually ends in mutual contempt and the realization of the deep differences between our countries and peoples. So yeah, maybe we do have more in common with Russians than I'd thought, and less in common with the Aussies & Brits & Kiwis & Canucks than I'd thought. Sometimes I think if the U.S. was to make alliance with anyone, make alliance with the Russians. There's much more potential to increase freedom in Russia than in the false-righteous BC countries which are losing freedom. Though, I don't think we (the U.S.) should be making alliance with anyone, rather pursuing a "Swiss-style" foreign policy. As for the drug cartels, I think drugs should be legalized and the cartels would dissolve. As for the Tailiban, and the failure of liberal democracy in the Middle East, it's because the theocrats love guns, but the moderate, liberal secularists hate guns. The conservative theocrats are willing to fight, whereas the liberal secularists are not. Again, love of guns indicates a greater willingness to fight. You wrote, "But I take great comfort in the knowledge that you represent a nutty fringe that masquerades as the mainstream. Why don't go off and let off some steam. I can only wonder how..." Don't get too comfortable. I represent a good slice of conservative and libertarian thought in the U.S. There has always been an isolationist thread in the American right and center (and left). The U.S. was reluctant to enter WW 1 and WW 2. Also, think Ron Paul. Even Trump got elected, in part, because he wanted to end U.S. military commitments abroad. As for nutty fringes and letting off steam, I'll let off steam by expanding those fringes which are fast becoming a majority. Even the left is tired of U.S. wars. I am going to do my best to spread the idea that people who give up their guns and then expect us gun-loving 'muricans to defend them are not worth defending. That idea is persuasive to a large number of conservatives who currently favor U.S. military alliances. Do they want to risk their kids' (soldiers) lives and U.S. cities to defend people who are too willing to give up their guns and their rights? (Note that Australia is protected from nuclearly-armed Red China by the gun-loving 'muricans' "nuclear umbrella". Don't ever forget that.) My advice to you as an 'murican to an Aussie is get the guns, planes, subs, ships, missiles, nukes, especially nukes, and fighting spirit necessary to defend yourselves and your freedom without the assistance of us gun-lovin' 'muricans. For your own good, don't consider the U.S. reliable - maybe we will be, maybe not - be prepared to defend yourselves. Even if we do assist you, the better prepared you are in yourselves, the better it will be for the U.S. your allies. All of this will require a different psycho-socio-cultural-political-ideological attitude amongst your people.
@@BruceD1776 Hello Bruce. Thx for your detailed reply. There are many strands of your post that I could unpick - for now I will focus on just 2. First, you repeatedly make the assertion that a country's capacity to defend itself from external threats is strongly determined by its population's ready access to firearms. This is - for a certain type of American - a romantic notion that conjures up the frontier, muskets, minutemen and those dastardly Red Coats. Armed civil disobedience worked a treat back in 1776 against the few forces the British could spare. It didn't work so well for the Afghans in 2002 - who followed your script, where there was no shortage of AK47s spread among the general population - but when faced against a modern army and B52 carpet bombing, they stood no chance. This is not 1776. We are in the modern age - the threats to my country are located way over the horizon and take the form of aircraft carriers, submarines and long range missiles and bombers. The key is to keep the Chinese out of key chokepoints, keep them well away from landing. That means investing in long run strike capability, submarines, modern, well equipped air and naval force. Australia spends about 2.2% of GDP on defence. Seasoned defence analysts suggest spending of the order of 3-4% of GDP is needed to give Australia an independent capacity to defend the country from China assuming little or modest help from the US. Second, you assert the Trump line that the US is being played a sucker in international alliances. Yes there is a free rider problem in NATO. You ask quite reasonably - why should the US risk a nuclear attack from China by defending an ally? You could apply the threat of nuclear attack to just about any scenario involving ANY security dispute with China or Russia. China would never initiate a nuclear attack against the US because it would face overwhelming retaliation. Such is the size of the US nuclear arsenal and the sophistication of delivery systems, China would be turned into a cinder in a matter of hours. China can't do that to the US. Whether the US feels it is in their national interest to defend Taiwan, or Japan, or Australia from China is for the US to decide. My sense is that you have very little idea as to what constitutes the US national interest. Japan, Australia, Canada have counted on US defense assurances in the past. Now - following Trump - they are hedging. Check your condescension on the nuclear umbrella the US extends to to allies. The fact is Japan and Canada could go nuclear in less than a week. Australia has the technical capacity to develop nuclear weapons if it chose. It is in the US interest to have fewer nations possessing nuclear weapons. Also consider a situation in which China breaks out of the first island chain, it will almost certainly contest control of the central Pacific, that means Hawaii and Guam will be threatened. And beyond that....
How did we have over 1000000 people in our armed services in ww2 and built dozens of ships and thousands of aircraft with a population of around 7000000 ?
In the context of Spitfires and Hurricanes, it shouldn't have been "firing on all eight"- it should have been "firing on all twelve" together with a two stage super charger!
So Australia at the time of this interview was greatly worried about Covid; no surprises o that one. Does that mean that Australian leaders were wrong in not considering and recognising other potential threats? Possibly; but I do not think it is fair to blame them for this. There has been nothing like Covid and its impact before. So, at some stage the dust has to settle and leaders and policy makers need to look at the world, do a SWOT or such like exercise. It is during this process, that a weakness and threat will identify China and the possible challenges it may pose to Australia. I do agree that Australia's leaders need to prepare for a war involving China; I do however hope that Australia considers its own interests first and foremost before getting on board with the USA in a conflict. I do not personally think that China wants to attack Australia now; that could of course change if Australia gets involved in a conflict in the South China sea or elsewhere and the Chinese get irritated and launch offensive operations against Australia. They can do this with missiles, something that General Molan says they are world leaders at. Australia is very blessed to have someone like General Molan involved; his knowledge and expertise must be availed of in all areas of policy and strategy development.
To Senator Jim Molan: While it is true that the aggressor can always choose the 'time and place' but that also depends if your opponent gives them that "Free start" President Reagan's Quote "peace is maintained through strength and showing weakness enables aggression" It was never clear to me why USA commander in chief's options had only been "Strategic Ambiguity or Strategic Clarity" for the first island chain which technically can include Japan and the Philippines. Taiwan is not the same as Afganastan that wasn't able to hold its ground, but I blame the complete collapse due to the premature uncoordinate unannounced withdrawal of "Troops First" w/o disposing of sensitive military equipment, a word to Afghanistan's commander, the US non-military agents, and its Afghan collaborators. The intelligence committee under no circumstance should have given the collaborators' personnel list to the Taliban terrorist, their families can be targeted if the situation turns south in the future. I felt "part of" the US intelligence had either been politicized or worse "compromised" by a foreign nation(s) or private interest. This being said; Taiwan won't be able to compete in terms of # of artillery IF it becomes a battle of attrition for many weeks/months since the mainland can reload their supplies very efficiently unless Taiwan has a counter-attack strategy of its own. I am very glad to hear Taiwan's Chief of Defence give the statement that Taiwan never included "when will USA (and/or) other democracy alliance arrive" into their defense consideration strategy AND is prepared to battle for as long as the invader wants to. Now that's a solid clarity Personally (If I am part of the IC or general that can provide more tactic/ideas for the commander in chief to choose) I probably would "forgo all intention of defending Taiwan" :O !!!! Nani?!!!!! It'll go something like this to give insurance to all America's democratic allies and confidence to the soldiers in the first line of defense. President Zero: Hmm "USA will not be providing any defense to Taiwan (who is capable of defending itself) -pause for x minutes-" Taiwan will have to be ready to accept the one, two, and maybe 3 waves of attacks on its own US of America will shift its focus to target all of the hostile/aggressor's military base, ports (+parcel islands), ships IN THE REGION SHIFTLY. ^Partical intention is to reduce the morale of the '"first line of defense of the opposite end"; letting them think if they want to be involved in the initial attack to jeopardize their comrade's life. A reverse tactic to Beijing "flying military pass Taiwan straight tactic to wear down Taiwan's military resource (collect data) + reduce morale using intimidation. The military can better prepare itself to act swiftly to strike on known targets at the very moment the battle began with or without the chief of command at the initial stage. Giving the commander on the ground more authority to decide to engage or not will also increase its mobilization to a large extend and then the Chef of command can decide if things need to GO BEYOND that. Ps. An aggressive president may even use "Taiwan" to provoke a strike WHILE US/Nato has military superiority over Beijing+Russia and Russia probably won't overly commit itself to the actual fight but likely seize land from the losers. China had seceded lands xx times bigger than Taiwan in the past and even during the communist regime. Note: I used the term aggressive because it carries the intention of doing damage to others while disregards the civilian involved and not its legitimacy since USA had already lost xxx thousands of life.
A good reason why us gun-loving Americans should not risk our soldiers lives defending gun-control Australia. We should not be protecting gun-control nations under the U.S. "nuclear umbrella", thereby putting U.S. cities at risk to defend a gun-control nation. Not worth it. Let Australia defend itself with its own guns and nukes.
@JimMolan sorry Jim, but AUKUS is looking increasingly like a pre-election promise to be discarded rather than a rock solid commitment. A Clayton's treaty...the defence treaty you have when you don't really have a defence treaty. I sincerely hope I'm wrong.
Australia needs to develop the resilience and capacity of Papua New Guinea and its citizens. 50% of their population is under the age of 16.. they have enormous human capital that can be used for mutual defence and economic development.. unfortunately NGO'S, DFAT and associated agencies are bleeding our aid and goodwill trough racism of both literal and self-serving low expectations. Keep them poor and dependant... the citizens of PNG have great respect for Australia but contempt for the Agencies of Australia.
I do not think that the Chinese would risk escalation with the US, it is far too risky and will significantly damaged their economy and reputation. Not to mention the risk of nuclear escalation. Therefore I think Jim’s worst case scenario regarding the missile barrages and cyber attacks is far too pessimistic Yes we need to know that these attacks could technically be executed - but they will awaken a sleeping giant and then turn the world even further against them They also have massive internal issues The people’s army has very little real combat experience, and yes they have 400 boats but their subs are clunky noisy and they barely have 1 carrier
No need even for covid. Just in time manufacturing processes mean no one holds stock or spares any more it and means the supply lanes are highly vulnerable.
Lack of an identity, all the old identities won't do, let be honest with that. That to build civilization we need to chose explicitly our cognitive functions over our instincts, and the specific role assigned to men and women. We must consider those things as sacred, and that our well-being, life and family can't exist without them. Until we get our priorities right there is no hope to move further as civilized.
1. John and Jim forget that no country messes with Israel and Russia because they have powerful nuclear weapons capabilities. Russia in particular is developing many new nuclear weapons systems and I believe the goal is not so much to deter the West but instead China, which has claims on large areas of Eastern Russia that were once part of China. 2. A fatal mistake for Australia is to trust that the U.S. will come to its aid. Even without the national shaming promulgated by the Biden administration in Afghanistan, the U.S. is in a state of rapid decline, primarily due to the 30 trillion plus dollar national debt that will prevent it from defending its allies as austerity measures set in. By the way, Biden wants to spend an additional 5 trillion dollars on "infrastructure." Another important factor that will lead to the demise of U.S. power is the lefts push to delegitimize every aspect of culture, the free-market capitalist economy and government institutions in the U.S., calling them evil, racist, white supremacist, anti-environment, anti-LGBTQI+... , economically unfair, oppressive (by the oppressor) and so on. There is a strong socialist undercurrent in their philosophy, which as we all know has created some of the greatest human tragedies in world history. True free-market capitalism is what made the U.S. the most powerful, prosperous and free country the world has ever seen and the left wants to destroy it.
the strategy is simple - create a military that is capable of defending the Australian homeland and equip it with whatever weapons are necessary to do the job. Establish/support/preserve whatever domestic industries are necessary to support that capability. can we stop talking and start doing?
JOHN: Notice the comments below about Australia's current 'North Korean' style of Government: and then ask yourself whether it is right for you to refer to "the poor people of Afghanistan"? You are currently being ruled by an Australian 'Health-Taliban'; and you allow it to happen: as do we here in the UK. These are not nice people: they are rude and authoritarian; and have no place near the wheels of government of ANY Western democracy. Yet, they are there: and they may have been deliberately PUT there (like chess-men) for precisely this time. And I include HM Prime Minister JOHNSON in my accusation. If the problem for Afghanistan is caused by adherence to a particular belief-system, then that is their problem: but we should not be afraid to call that belief-system out. It is not 'good-news' for the common health of Humanity. But if those in Is**mic Countries are fearful of the more 'devout' among them, that is not our problem. We cannot house the lot of them in the West. For us in the West the problem is the people who loathe the concept of the 'Nation State', and this includes Communists (Communism is 'evangelical') and 'Is**m': both of whom consider they have the 'solution' to the Human Condition. Patriotic people like JIM MOLAN may well be within our current Governments: but something is going on which prevents them from exerting any influence. Might that 'something' be GLOBALIST-MARXISM?
Thank you John and Jim - We need more strong and principled men such as yourselves in these trying times. God bless you both
Such an important conversation and well overdue.
Stand off weapons to defend?
Listening to Jim Molan is always a crash course in nationhood.
I genuinely dont understand how a nation as outgoing, adventurous and rugged as Australia has gone down its current authoritarian , locked down, defenceless route.
It doesn't take that many generations to turn wolves into pampered poodles.
Me neither. I'm constantly shocked at my fellow Australians. Sometimes I think we wouldn't care if China invaded. The complete apathy over the most extreme loss of freedoms with covid is a worrying insight to our future.
I'm ashamed. We let it happen. We can fix it.
Both Australia and Florida were subjected to the original Covid strain in 2020, Florida decided to turn this into a contest of ideological values, with the numskulls in the GOP "winning" (I suppose). The results are there for all to see. Allowing the virus to rip saw 33,500 persons lose their lives up until March 31, 2021 (prior to the arrival of the Delta strain). In contrast Australia's politicians were pragmatic and less ideological. Our centre-right Federal government worked with right and left state governments to suppress the virus. It tightened the nations borders, quarantined most international arrivals and cranked up a system of contact tracing of those infected. The strategy was geared around reducing the flow of infected people entering the country, identifying them and isolating them and their close contacts. The approach paid off - just 909 deaths recorded up until March 31. Normalizing the data - Florida's cumulative deaths totalled 156 deaths per 100,000 (national total 169 deaths/100k). Australia just 4 deaths per 100K. So - having witnessed the mess created by dysfunctional GOP politics, we in Australia would rather - if you don't mind - not follow your example.
This system also delayed the seeding of the delta strain by several months. The delta strain is far more contagious than the original strain, spreading faster than efforts to identify cases, contact trace infected persons and isolate infected persons. And we know from overseas experience, once a base of delta infections reaches a critical mass, the rate of spread outpaces suppression measures. That is the urgency that drives draconian measures aimed at reducing mobility and personal interaction. These measures are aimed at buying time for contact tracers to identify and isolate, before the virus spread swamps the population. Th measures also buy time for our paltry vaccination rates to lift beyond 70% which will take until the end of October. Because Australians - as a sovereign people - value preserving the lives of our citizens and have chosen to support actions to suppress the virus. The paranoid libertarian right in the US - suggesting it is a slippery slope - have impaired judgment. Covid is a once in a century event. The overwhelming majority of Australians hate these restrictions - it is bad for businesses, causes social problems. We are not idiots. We are aware of the costs, but see them as necessary. Hopefully, when vaccination rates rise high enough, we will learn to live with Covid and some semblance of normal life will return.
When life is good people become soft... then the wolves move in.
A public service, John and Jim. Good Old 'She'll be right mate', complacent Oz. Time for a BIG wake-up. I hope every Australian sees this! All strength to you both. Keep it up!
Both these men should be in the Senate!
The US and west have done nearly everything to strengthen China. We trained their scientists and engineers, we outsourced production and associated technology, and we buy their products.
And it's time to stop doing all of those things.
Thanks John and Jim 👍
We need to rebuild national pride and confidence in the people. We’re a very lucky country and must defend our freedom and be self reliance.
Why isn't Senator Molan the Defence Minister. He has a wealth of knowledge and is honest and articulate. Every voting Australian should view this video.
He has announced he has some significant health issues.
Dutton is great
@@Timiscool1321 Agree. At the I made my comment a lack-lustre female incumbent held the position. Merit and experience must always outweigh gender. I would welcome any person, regardless of gender, with qualities and experience similar to the likeable Senator
@@BlinkyBillNo1 I agree. He would also make a great PM if he were on the ticket.
Australia need to strongly look at nuclear powered AND armed subs. The UK Dreadnought SSBN program would be ideal. We could partner with the UK instead of the dodgy frogs - I hate to say it but Australia is close to requiring a nuclear weapons delivery system to create a serious deterrent throughout the 21st century. If Australia had 6 Dreadnought class subs each with 12 Trident missiles with 8 MIRVS - no one would fuck with us
Great conversation, good insights from the Senator. I appreciate his optimism about the spirit of Australia but the current governments, state and federal, are dividing people in a way that will work against national unity if war does come to our shores. I would be interested in hearing a conversation with the Senator about what we can do to counteract this division being created between the vaccinated (the good) and the unvaccinated (the bad). Some now see others as the enemy, which I fear will have grave consequences if we do need to fight together to protect this nation. It seems this division presents an opportunity for an enemy to strike, while we are weakened from within.
Brilliant. Great to hear two very intelligent people discussing something so important.
Thank God there's some adults in the room
Future historians - mark down this talk - and the scenario of Chinese attack that Molan outlines - as indicating that some of us, at this time, know the dangers we face and support a major build up in Aust defense capability.
Better to stop building up China by letting them have their way every time because of greed.
@@sylviam6535 Tell that to ex Fed Liberal Politician Andrew Robb.
The ADF procurement processes manage to stuff up nearly everything they are tasked with aquiring.
Tiger Helicopters not ready for combat operations, F18G Burns up on runway before it leaves the US.
The Collins class subs.
The Shortfin Barracuda subs.
Hmas Choules blowing up a $5mill transformer, just after procurement from the Royal Navy.
Wanting and affording new weapons is one thing but implementing their procurement seems to be beyond the Australian military.
Can government sort this out before the next "hot" conflict? I hope so.
Why won't the government do their job and protect us, anyone with a brain will back them if they give people like Jim Molan a platform to explain the situation. Peace through strength.
Thanks.
Australia cannot afford to match China militarily in a conventional sense. The only path to real deterrence is nuclear. I suggest that Australia follow the Israeli strategy of ambivalence, not saying whether or not nuclear weapons exist in Australia. At the same time, I suggest that Australia purchase a large number of nuclear submarines that match or exceed the capabilities of Chinese nuclear subs. These subs should have the capacity to launch nuclear-tipped missiles, though no mention should be made of the missiles actually having nuclear warheads. It's up to Australia to decide if it wants nuclear weapons. Think of it this way: China has far, far more to lose in a nuclear exchange than Australia in lives and treasure.
If there ever was ever a time for the "5 eyes" (along with English speaking India and with Japan and South Korea) to be strong and united it is now in the face of the bullying from the CCP. I fear Australia and New Zealand are easy pickings for China and would represent tempting targets from a natural resources point of view.
With our USA sec def more worried about white rage and woke ideology idiocy, I apologize for our flailing alliance. Every nation is under struggle between liberty and tyranny. Our assumptions of liberty is being attacked. May God go with us.
‘Everything w-e turns to s-t’ - DJT.
My American friend no need to apologize,we will be in it together just like WW2.
My heart grieves for Australia, as I, we pray for Australia.
Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum ( If you so desire peace prepare for war). Australia lacks a National Security Strategy and relies too heavily of White Papers. The last White Paper that resembled a National Security Strategy was the 1986 White Paper - The Defence of Australia by Professor Paul Dibb.
I was on the staff - as a seconded officer - of CJTF-7 in Iraq for the first year after the invasion. There was no strategy there either. What I did observe was a lot of petty back-biting between the US military Commander (Sanchez) and the US Political lead (Bremmer); even at my level it was clear the two hated each other and were determined to get in each others way.
Problem is nobody is going to be willing to fight for Australia when the time comes. What is there really worth fighting for at this point?
The problems of the USN are far deeper. USS Ford has yet to fully replace Enterprise that was retired some yeas ago. (and just scrapping Enterprise is going to cost a lot) They have lost Bonne Homme Richard due to the arson attack without a replacement. The LCS classes have been a complete failure. The Ticonderoga's are being retired without replacement (USN wants to retire 7 this year) with only a couple of destroyers being built to replace them.. Nimitz is also not far from retirement. Even the Zumwalt destroyers class can be viewed as a failure since the USN doesn't plan to buy ammunition for their guns. The shipyard facilities are run down and overworked. You also have the situation that the Marines are restructuring completely and are ditching their tanks and a lot of helicopters. They have no dedicated replacement for the EA-6B Prowler since they didn't buy Growler's and will have to add pods to F-35's to do the role.
47:45 resilience is the minimum goal. Aim for antifragility. Being damaged makes you stronger.
Interesting, how does that actually work in terms of tactics? How does losing men and material make you stronger?
we have a taleb man over here!
Fantastic presentation thank you both for your insights on this topic. As an ordinary Australian I would have to side with Jim Molan that with the right will we could be the Pacific version of Israel. And without having to share a border with anyone we could seriously defend ourselves, we need a defence force that will exact such a cost on an enemy that he will think twice before attacking. 🇦🇺👍
Enjoyed a great conversation between two gentlemen of clarity. There, as here, we share a common problem that has been a difficulty for some time: leftist termites so greatly interested in undermining societal values. More interested in that than building anything of value.
Perhaps the intention is demolition to the end of replacing what has been traditionally valued, but the prominence of leftist activity and thought is far, far greater than the value of its "contributions".
Absolutely couldn’t agree more
We value your support, we come together as one when needed. Uk
It’s called subversion and it only aims to destroy. It has no redeeming qualities.
Defence force are good at keeping us in our homes or out of states. Well done to you all
John. Off topic, but I still need to hear your way out of this Covid hell.
Surrender to the corrupt totalitarian gestapo tyrants
One of the gifts of the Enlightenment period was its emphasis on having regard to facts when forming a view, rather than engage in magical thinking, or shaping the "facts" to justify a pre-determined view. This is the trap you have fallen into.
Both Australia and Florida were subjected to the original Covid strain in 2020, Florida decided to turn this into a contest of ideological values, with the numskulls in the GOP "winning" (I suppose). The results are there for all to see. Allowing the virus to rip saw 33,500 persons lose their lives up until March 31, 2021 (prior to the arrival of the Delta strain). In contrast Australia's politicians were pragmatic and less ideological. Our centre-right Federal government worked with right and left state governments to suppress the virus. It tightened the nations borders, quarantined most international arrivals and cranked up a system of contact tracing of those infected. The strategy was geared around reducing the flow of infected people entering the country, identifying them and isolating them and their close contacts. The approach paid off - just 909 deaths recorded up until March 31. Normalizing the data - Florida's cummualtive deaths totalled 156 deaths per 100,000 (national total 169 deaths/100k). Australia just 4 deaths per 100K. So - having witnessed the mess created by dysfunctional GOP politics, we in Australia would rather - if you don't mind - not follow your example.
This system also delayed the seeding of the delta strain by several months. The delta strain is far more contageous than the original strain, spreading faster than efforts to identify cases, contact trace infected persons and isolate infected persons. And we know from overseas experience, once a base of delta infections reaches a critcal mass, the rate of spread outpaces suppression measures. That is the urgency that drives recent draconian measures aimed at reducing mobility and personal interaction. These measures are aimed at buying time for contact tracers to identify and isolate, before the virus spread swamps the populaton. The measures also buy time for our paltry vaccination rates to lift beyond 70% which will take until the end of October. Because Australians - as a sovereign people - value preserving the lives of our citizens and have chosen to support actions to suppress the virus. The paranoid libertarian right in the US - suggesting it is a slippery slope - have impaired judgment. Covid is a once in a century event. The overwhelming majority of Australians hate these restrictions - it is bad for businesses, causes social problems. We are not idiots. We are aware of the costs, but see them as necessary. Hopefully, when vaccination rates rise high enough, we will learn to live with Covid and some semblance of normal life will return.
I completely support the Aussies demanding greater autonomy and/or say in strategic goals. However, ya’ll are slipping down the rabbit hole with the whole lockdown thing. Your resembling China more and more every month.
Both Australia and Florida were subjected to the original Covid strain in 2020, Florida decided to turn this into a contest of ideological values, with the numskulls in the GOP "winning" (I suppose). The results are there for all to see. Allowing the virus to rip saw 33,500 persons lose their lives up until March 31, 2021 (prior to the arrival of the Delta strain). In contrast Australia's politicians were pragmatic and less ideological. Our centre-right Federal government worked with right and left state governments to suppress the virus. It tightened the nations borders, quarantined most international arrivals and cranked up a system of contact tracing of those infected. The strategy was geared around reducing the flow of infected people entering the country, identifying them and isolating them and their close contacts. The approach paid off - just 909 deaths recorded up until March 31. Normalizing the data - Florida's cummualtive deaths totalled 156 deaths per 100,000 (national total 169 deaths/100k). Australia just 4 deaths per 100K. So - having witnessed the mess created by dysfunctional GOP politics, we in Australia would rather - if you don't mind - not follow your example.
This system also delayed the seeding of the delta strain by several months. The delta strain is far more contageous than the original strain, spreading faster than efforts to identify cases, contact trace infected persons and isolate infected persons. And we know from overseas experience, once a base of delta infections reaches a critcal mass, the rate of spread outpaces suppression measures. That is the urgency that drives draconian measures aimed at reducing mobility and personal interaction. These measures are aimed at buying time for contact tracers to identify and isolate, before the virus spread swamps the populaton. Th measures also buy time for our paltry vaccination rates to lift beyond 70% which will take until the end of October. Because Australians - as a sovereign people - value preserving the lives of our citizens and have chosen to support actions to suppress the virus. The paranoid libertarian right in the US - suggesting it is a slippery slope - have impaired judgment. Covid is a once in a century event. The overwhelming majority of Australians hate these restrictions - it is bad for businesses, causes social problems. We are not idiots. We are aware of the costs, but see them as necessary. Hopefully, when vaccination rates rise high enough, we will learn to live with Covid and some semblance of normal life will return.
@@dweller6065 Might as well stay down as as Lambda & Epsilon are coming and boosters will be needed ad nauseum. There will always be good reasons for draconian measures. G’luck getting them rolled back.
@@Grgrrr Of course the onus is on our democratically elected governments to ensure actions they take are lawful, consistent with the constitution, can be justified and subject to democratic accountability. Ultimately voters here will punish those governments they believe have misjudged. We have a Federal election early next year. But Americans - particularly the libertarians - are focused on the wrong set of issues. Given the MASSIVE loss of life that has taken place in the US - 50% more than deaths in WW2 - the onus is really on US fed and state governments to explain why they choose inaction and allow such a catastrophe to unfold. There were measures available that would have kept US deaths to one-quarter or less of what has occurred. But libertarian fundamentalists - who display zero common sense when faced with a pandemic - prevented such an outcome. Those excess deaths are on them - it is a crime against humanity of Stalinist proportions. Yet US libertarians think arresting a few teenagers partying on a beach is a bigger deal. How much evidence does it take for you to consider - let alone admit - that you are wrong?
@@dweller6065 When my own physician tells me that he’ll lose his license if he recommends anything other than taking the vaccine then information stopped being scientifically based. When my licensed friends in frontline medicine tell me that reporting of C19 deaths has been financially motivated since the beginning then it’s clear that the data collection has been compromised. When studies coming out of Israel suggest stronger resistance to a greater number of C19 proteins, over a longer period of time, from natural infection then it becomes more suspect that the decisions are based on politics and not medical reality. When the FDA’s own report on Pfizer C19 vaccine authorization excludes data incorporating Delta variant then I pretty much call BS. There’s no way to talk about numbers of people dying without injecting emotion (which makes you an asshole if you reject the emotional basis) but here it is. I, personally, have never payed attention to the number of deaths per minute, hour, day, week, month nor year of Americans much less every human being on this planet. I’ve never lived tracking how many died to influenza, pneumonia, ARDS, COPD, heart disease, cancer, auto accidents or any other myriad ways that human beings die. They’re keeping a running tally of C19 deaths that doesn’t even reset at the per annum. It’s a medical “War on Terror”. Now maybe you support govn’t over-reach in the name of safety but I don’t. The Patriot Act and continuation of the National Defense Authorization Act here in the US have been used to justify some of the most horrible abuses in US history. Think now that the US is out of Afghanistan that those encroachments will be rolled back? Not on your life. What you permit your govn’ts to do will remain long after your dead.
@@Grgrrr I'm open to the idea that death stats attributable to Covid maybe overstated. Then again they might be understated, as the US has a lot of poor people who die at home. See - how your bias responds to contrary data? Arranging the facts to suit a political view. I could say to you to look at stats of excess mortality as demographic trends are quite stable over time, but that would be a waste of time. Enjoy your little trip. Thank goodness I don't have to share a political system with such nutjobs.
We could build up airforce number quickly by building gen 3 or 4 jets. Cheaper proven tech. Still capable and would support the lesser numbered and more expensive 5th gen jets. Same for naval and ground force tech.
52:50 " ... too many younger people think all wisdom resides with them ... " May I quote you on the inevitable Dunning-Kruger impact of lack of sufficient experience?
National security for years have been bi partisan. Enough of that and take on Albanese and all his mates and stake out a position on national security.
As an American, I completely agree with you. Our leaders made all these defense agreements before the majority of us were born without our consent. Meanwhile, while our taxes pay for NATO and a sprawling imperial army, the Australians, G.B., Canada and all of western Europe get universal health care, free university education and a much greater social safety net. Us, here in the USA get ever increasing health insurance, tuition rising by leaps and bounds every year on top of an unaccountable bloated military. So, the people of this country would be grateful if the rest of the “allies” shouldered some of the burden.
This Australian hears and agrees with you. Australia must increase its defense spending.
One thing you need to know is that the US government spends more per person on health for worse outcomes than most other free countries that use a socialized health care scheme.
Australian Government has been abysmal for the last 50 years.. we will reap what we have sown.
The US and the EU have been just as bad. Leftist subversion.
My uncle said Australian millitary only suitable for peace keeping force, they are still a boy soldier . The former US State secretary Henry Kissinger once said " To be an enemy of America can be dangerous, but to be a friend is fatal" . and the winner is Mr Anderson? Minh Sun
This is the conversation Canada ought to be having, but instead we're having an election to prop up our prime minister's vanity and dreams of power.
It is worrying to those in NATO that the US and Canada appear to have such weak leadership at such a time.
and buying Australia's second hand Hornets. :-)
I feel and fear for Canada as much as I do for my America.
Regardless of the party in power in Canada our military has been neglected for decades. We cannot defend our borders. I am sure the US National Guard alone could easily invade and take over Canada if these so chose to do so.
Writing as one of those gun-loving 'muricans, I wouldn't want to risk my kid's life (if I had a kid in the military), our soldier's lives, U.S. cities and U.S. lives to defend gun-control nations, unfortunately as New Zealand, Australia and the U.K. with exception of Northern Ireland have become. People own guns so they can defend freedom amongst other things. When people vote away their freedom to own tools for the defense of self and freedom, it indicates an underlying unwillingness to fight for freedom, or vote for it, or vote to defend it. If China was to take over tiny New Zealand, being so far away, it would have little to no effect upon the U.S. Let people fight for their own freedom.
Australia must understand, like Rome America's retreat from a military power is largely driven by an military economic complex is failing. The USA does not have the economic power to continue being the world's policeman. Therefore Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, Canada, the UK Singapore and other democracies will have to step up in Asia and the Pacific, or accept Chinese hegemony. Taiwan must be defended at any cost.
Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea need to acquire the nukes necessary to counter and deter the use of Red Chinese nukes.
@@BruceD1776 We can not rely on a Biden like US administration to protect us, Taiwan or any other democracy. That is why we need the CANZUK alliance. Britain has nukes! I think Australia needs a nuclear industry and nuclear subs. 3 or 4 conventional weapons can do as much damage as a nuke warhead so we need missiles which can take out China, their dams and infrastructure, we don't need nuclear weapons. I would put the money into accurate missiles and missile defense.
You plan on what is possible, not on what you think is likely.
If Australia had not removed the vast majority of long arms from their patriot citizens they would have many more ground fighters ready and willing to defend their homeland at a moment's notice.
What nonsense
Elky, nonsense is expecting us gun-loving, freedom-loving Americans to put the lives of our soldiers' and people at risk to defend a gun-control nation such as yours that offends our freedom-loving values. Giving up your guns is a sign that you do not love freedom enough to defend it. If you loved freedom, you wouldn't foreswear means to defend it. People who would surrender their guns are not worth defending. Fight for your own freedom, gun-controller. Don't expect sacred American youth and people to die for such a putrid cause as gun-control. Learn to defend yourselves. Get your own guns and nukes,
@@BruceD1776 Interesting view. I thought what was being defended here is freedom of association, freedom of speech, of political assembly, of representation, of free and fair elections, protection of private property rights, protection of human rights. But you only mentioned the right to bear arms. In fact you are suggesting that the US should not have any mutual defence alliance with any country that does not share your love of guns. Fair enough. You have more in common with Russia, the drug cartels of Latin America and your friends the Taliban (who were on TV the other day, did you notice?) than the liberal democracies. But I take great comfort in the knowledge that you represent a nutty fringe that masquerades as the mainstream. Why don't go off and let off some steam. I can only wonder how...
@@dweller6065 Of course we value all those other rights. Why do you think we own guns, but to defend those rights? The question is are you willing to risk life and limb to defend those rights. Because if you are not, you will not have those freedoms for long. People advocate gun-control out of fear and lack of love of freedom because they'd never use a gun to defend it, and because they regard the government as morally superior to themselves that government can own guns but the people cannot. If you Aussies are so scared of guns, are you willing to risk life and limb to defend your freedom against Red China without gun-loving 'murican help? Or would you guys be "Hong Kongized" i.e. allow Red China to dictate your domestic political policy via military intimidation? Whole lotta islands just north of you from which Red China could project power - Malaysia, Indonesia, New Guinea. All the CPC's gotta do to those nations is bribe & intimidate, bribe & intimidate, bribe & intimidate, and the Commies will have bases (and millions of troops out of 1.4 billion population) to threaten Australia and New Zealand. Without a love for freedom, enough love to demand guns to defend it, you'll fold to Red Chinese intimidation. You'll consider their authoritarian system not that bad, not worth fighting, so you'll submit.
You wrote, "But you only mentioned the right to bear arms. In fact you are suggesting that the US should not have any mutual defence alliance with any country that does not share your love of guns."
Yes, I am. Exactly. People who are willing to give up their guns will more readily give up their freedom. Would they be dependable in such alliance? Would they be a net drain upon us? Why should we make alliance thereby putting our youth at risk and our cities at nuclear risk to defend policies we abhor? So long as you have those laws on the books, defending your government defends those laws.
You wrote, "You have more in common with Russia, the drug cartels of Latin America and your friends the Taliban (who were on TV the other day, did you notice?) than the liberal democracies."
Maybe we do. Whenever I get into an internet discussion with a Russian about guns or gun policy, it usually takes the form of the Russian envying our freedom wishing he had the same freedom in Russia or arguing over which is the best battle rifle - the AK-47 or the M-16. And the conversation usually ends in mutual respect, brothers in arms, maybe our countries can resolve differences. Whereas, usually when I get into an internet discussion with a British Commonwealth (BC) person about guns and gun-policy, it usually consists of the BC person false-righteously berating the U.S. about guns, freedom, and lack of gun-control. The conversation usually ends in mutual contempt and the realization of the deep differences between our countries and peoples. So yeah, maybe we do have more in common with Russians than I'd thought, and less in common with the Aussies & Brits & Kiwis & Canucks than I'd thought. Sometimes I think if the U.S. was to make alliance with anyone, make alliance with the Russians. There's much more potential to increase freedom in Russia than in the false-righteous BC countries which are losing freedom. Though, I don't think we (the U.S.) should be making alliance with anyone, rather pursuing a "Swiss-style" foreign policy.
As for the drug cartels, I think drugs should be legalized and the cartels would dissolve.
As for the Tailiban, and the failure of liberal democracy in the Middle East, it's because the theocrats love guns, but the moderate, liberal secularists hate guns. The conservative theocrats are willing to fight, whereas the liberal secularists are not. Again, love of guns indicates a greater willingness to fight.
You wrote, "But I take great comfort in the knowledge that you represent a nutty fringe that masquerades as the mainstream. Why don't go off and let off some steam. I can only wonder how..."
Don't get too comfortable. I represent a good slice of conservative and libertarian thought in the U.S. There has always been an isolationist thread in the American right and center (and left). The U.S. was reluctant to enter WW 1 and WW 2. Also, think Ron Paul. Even Trump got elected, in part, because he wanted to end U.S. military commitments abroad. As for nutty fringes and letting off steam, I'll let off steam by expanding those fringes which are fast becoming a majority. Even the left is tired of U.S. wars. I am going to do my best to spread the idea that people who give up their guns and then expect us gun-loving 'muricans to defend them are not worth defending. That idea is persuasive to a large number of conservatives who currently favor U.S. military alliances. Do they want to risk their kids' (soldiers) lives and U.S. cities to defend people who are too willing to give up their guns and their rights? (Note that Australia is protected from nuclearly-armed Red China by the gun-loving 'muricans' "nuclear umbrella". Don't ever forget that.)
My advice to you as an 'murican to an Aussie is get the guns, planes, subs, ships, missiles, nukes, especially nukes, and fighting spirit necessary to defend yourselves and your freedom without the assistance of us gun-lovin' 'muricans. For your own good, don't consider the U.S. reliable - maybe we will be, maybe not - be prepared to defend yourselves. Even if we do assist you, the better prepared you are in yourselves, the better it will be for the U.S. your allies. All of this will require a different psycho-socio-cultural-political-ideological attitude amongst your people.
@@BruceD1776 Hello Bruce. Thx for your detailed reply. There are many strands of your post that I could unpick - for now I will focus on just 2.
First, you repeatedly make the assertion that a country's capacity to defend itself from external threats is strongly determined by its population's ready access to firearms. This is - for a certain type of American - a romantic notion that conjures up the frontier, muskets, minutemen and those dastardly Red Coats. Armed civil disobedience worked a treat back in 1776 against the few forces the British could spare. It didn't work so well for the Afghans in 2002 - who followed your script, where there was no shortage of AK47s spread among the general population - but when faced against a modern army and B52 carpet bombing, they stood no chance. This is not 1776. We are in the modern age - the threats to my country are located way over the horizon and take the form of aircraft carriers, submarines and long range missiles and bombers. The key is to keep the Chinese out of key chokepoints, keep them well away from landing. That means investing in long run strike capability, submarines, modern, well equipped air and naval force. Australia spends about 2.2% of GDP on defence. Seasoned defence analysts suggest spending of the order of 3-4% of GDP is needed to give Australia an independent capacity to defend the country from China assuming little or modest help from the US.
Second, you assert the Trump line that the US is being played a sucker in international alliances. Yes there is a free rider problem in NATO. You ask quite reasonably - why should the US risk a nuclear attack from China by defending an ally? You could apply the threat of nuclear attack to just about any scenario involving ANY security dispute with China or Russia. China would never initiate a nuclear attack against the US because it would face overwhelming retaliation. Such is the size of the US nuclear arsenal and the sophistication of delivery systems, China would be turned into a cinder in a matter of hours. China can't do that to the US. Whether the US feels it is in their national interest to defend Taiwan, or Japan, or Australia from China is for the US to decide. My sense is that you have very little idea as to what constitutes the US national interest. Japan, Australia, Canada have counted on US defense assurances in the past. Now - following Trump - they are hedging. Check your condescension on the nuclear umbrella the US extends to to allies. The fact is Japan and Canada could go nuclear in less than a week. Australia has the technical capacity to develop nuclear weapons if it chose. It is in the US interest to have fewer nations possessing nuclear weapons. Also consider a situation in which China breaks out of the first island chain, it will almost certainly contest control of the central Pacific, that means Hawaii and Guam will be threatened. And beyond that....
How did we have over 1000000 people in our armed services in ww2 and built dozens of ships and thousands of aircraft with a population of around 7000000 ?
Jim should be defence minister and Dutton should be pm Australia needs to move to a war manufacturing footing
In the context of Spitfires and Hurricanes, it shouldn't have been "firing on all eight"- it should have been "firing on all twelve" together with a two stage super charger!
We are so screwed
So Australia at the time of this interview was greatly worried about Covid; no surprises o that one. Does that mean that Australian leaders were wrong in not considering and recognising other potential threats? Possibly; but I do not think it is fair to blame them for this. There has been nothing like Covid and its impact before. So, at some stage the dust has to settle and leaders and policy makers need to look at the world, do a SWOT or such like exercise. It is during this process, that a weakness and threat will identify China and the possible challenges it may pose to Australia. I do agree that Australia's leaders need to prepare for a war involving China; I do however hope that Australia considers its own interests first and foremost before getting on board with the USA in a conflict. I do not personally think that China wants to attack Australia now; that could of course change if Australia gets involved in a conflict in the South China sea or elsewhere and the Chinese get irritated and launch offensive operations against Australia. They can do this with missiles, something that General Molan says they are world leaders at. Australia is very blessed to have someone like General Molan involved; his knowledge and expertise must be availed of in all areas of policy and strategy development.
afghani is the currency. afghan are the people.
To Senator Jim Molan:
While it is true that the aggressor can always choose the 'time and place' but that also depends if your opponent gives them that "Free start"
President Reagan's Quote "peace is maintained through strength and showing weakness enables aggression"
It was never clear to me why USA commander in chief's options had only been "Strategic Ambiguity or Strategic Clarity" for the first island chain which technically can include Japan and the Philippines.
Taiwan is not the same as Afganastan that wasn't able to hold its ground, but I blame the complete collapse due to the premature uncoordinate unannounced withdrawal of "Troops First" w/o disposing of sensitive military equipment, a word to Afghanistan's commander, the US non-military agents, and its Afghan collaborators. The intelligence committee under no circumstance should have given the collaborators' personnel list to the Taliban terrorist, their families can be targeted if the situation turns south in the future. I felt "part of" the US intelligence had either been politicized or worse "compromised" by a foreign nation(s) or private interest.
This being said; Taiwan won't be able to compete in terms of # of artillery IF it becomes a battle of attrition for many weeks/months since the mainland can reload their supplies very efficiently unless Taiwan has a counter-attack strategy of its own.
I am very glad to hear Taiwan's Chief of Defence give the statement that Taiwan never included "when will USA (and/or) other democracy alliance arrive" into their defense consideration strategy AND is prepared to battle for as long as the invader wants to. Now that's a solid clarity
Personally (If I am part of the IC or general that can provide more tactic/ideas for the commander in chief to choose)
I probably would "forgo all intention of defending Taiwan" :O !!!! Nani?!!!!!
It'll go something like this to give insurance to all America's democratic allies and confidence to the soldiers in the first line of defense.
President Zero: Hmm "USA will not be providing any defense to Taiwan (who is capable of defending itself) -pause for x minutes-" Taiwan will have to be ready to accept the one, two, and maybe 3 waves of attacks on its own
US of America will shift its focus to target all of the hostile/aggressor's military base, ports (+parcel islands), ships IN THE REGION SHIFTLY.
^Partical intention is to reduce the morale of the '"first line of defense of the opposite end"; letting them think if they want to be involved in the initial attack to jeopardize their comrade's life. A reverse tactic to Beijing "flying military pass Taiwan straight tactic to wear down Taiwan's military resource (collect data) + reduce morale using intimidation.
The military can better prepare itself to act swiftly to strike on known targets at the very moment the battle began with or without the chief of command at the initial stage. Giving the commander on the ground more authority to decide to engage or not will also increase its mobilization to a large extend and then the Chef of command can decide if things need to GO BEYOND that.
Ps. An aggressive president may even use "Taiwan" to provoke a strike WHILE US/Nato has military superiority over Beijing+Russia and Russia probably won't overly commit itself to the actual fight but likely seize land from the losers. China had seceded lands xx times bigger than Taiwan in the past and even during the communist regime.
Note: I used the term aggressive because it carries the intention of doing damage to others while disregards the civilian involved and not its legitimacy since USA had already lost xxx thousands of life.
Is that a 303 on the wall behind Jim. Hard to see the whole thing😢
Probably not. You need to store your firearms disassembled in Australia. Yes, the country has become THAT sad.
A good reason why us gun-loving Americans should not risk our soldiers lives defending gun-control Australia. We should not be protecting gun-control nations under the U.S. "nuclear umbrella", thereby putting U.S. cities at risk to defend a gun-control nation. Not worth it. Let Australia defend itself with its own guns and nukes.
@JimMolan sorry Jim, but AUKUS is looking increasingly like a pre-election promise to be discarded rather than a rock solid commitment. A Clayton's treaty...the defence treaty you have when you don't really have a defence treaty. I sincerely hope I'm wrong.
Should start 12 month voluntary military service for school leavers.
We already have it. It's called the Gap Year program.
Australia needs to develop the resilience and capacity of Papua New Guinea and its citizens. 50% of their population is under the age of 16.. they have enormous human capital that can be used for mutual defence and economic development.. unfortunately NGO'S, DFAT and associated agencies are bleeding our aid and goodwill trough racism of both literal and self-serving low expectations. Keep them poor and dependant... the citizens of PNG have great respect for Australia but contempt for the Agencies of Australia.
I do not think that the Chinese would risk escalation with the US, it is far too risky and will significantly damaged their economy and reputation. Not to mention the risk of nuclear escalation. Therefore I think Jim’s worst case scenario regarding the missile barrages and cyber attacks is far too pessimistic
Yes we need to know that these attacks could technically be executed - but they will awaken a sleeping giant and then turn the world even further against them
They also have massive internal issues
The people’s army has very little real combat experience, and yes they have 400 boats but their subs are clunky noisy and they barely have 1 carrier
why need a hot war, if you can bring other country on their knee by COVID?
No need even for covid. Just in time manufacturing processes mean no one holds stock or spares any more it and means the supply lanes are highly vulnerable.
Lack of an identity, all the old identities won't do, let be honest with that. That to build civilization we need to chose explicitly our cognitive functions over our instincts, and the specific role assigned to men and women. We must consider those things as sacred, and that our well-being, life and family can't exist without them. Until we get our priorities right there is no hope to move further as civilized.
As an American, I'm saddened to watch my country commit suicide.
You should not have allowed neo-communists to seize the levers of power.
1. John and Jim forget that no country messes with Israel and Russia because they have powerful nuclear weapons capabilities. Russia in particular is developing many new nuclear weapons systems and I believe the goal is not so much to deter the West but instead China, which has claims on large areas of Eastern Russia that were once part of China.
2. A fatal mistake for Australia is to trust that the U.S. will come to its aid. Even without the national shaming promulgated by the Biden administration in Afghanistan, the U.S. is in a state of rapid decline, primarily due to the 30 trillion plus dollar national debt that will prevent it from defending its allies as austerity measures set in. By the way, Biden wants to spend an additional 5 trillion dollars on "infrastructure." Another important factor that will lead to the demise of U.S. power is the lefts push to delegitimize every aspect of culture, the free-market capitalist economy and government institutions in the U.S., calling them evil, racist, white supremacist, anti-environment, anti-LGBTQI+... , economically unfair, oppressive (by the oppressor) and so on. There is a strong socialist undercurrent in their philosophy, which as we all know has created some of the greatest human tragedies in world history. True free-market capitalism is what made the U.S. the most powerful, prosperous and free country the world has ever seen and the left wants to destroy it.
Yeah but how good are house prices?
Don't forget EMP.
the strategy is simple - create a military that is capable of defending the Australian homeland and equip it with whatever weapons are necessary to do the job. Establish/support/preserve whatever domestic industries are necessary to support that capability. can we stop talking and start doing?
'We're educated'? Eddamacated is closer to the truth.
Jordan Pietersen said that students leave university dumber than the day they walked in, and I fully agree.
JOHN: Notice the comments below about Australia's current 'North Korean' style of Government: and then ask yourself whether it is right for you to refer to "the poor people of Afghanistan"? You are currently being ruled by an Australian 'Health-Taliban'; and you allow it to happen: as do we here in the UK. These are not nice people: they are rude and authoritarian; and have no place near the wheels of government of ANY Western democracy. Yet, they are there: and they may have been deliberately PUT there (like chess-men) for precisely this time. And I include HM Prime Minister JOHNSON in my accusation. If the problem for Afghanistan is caused by adherence to a particular belief-system, then that is their problem: but we should not be afraid to call that belief-system out. It is not 'good-news' for the common health of Humanity. But if those in Is**mic Countries are fearful of the more 'devout' among them, that is not our problem. We cannot house the lot of them in the West. For us in the West the problem is the people who loathe the concept of the 'Nation State', and this includes Communists (Communism is 'evangelical') and 'Is**m': both of whom consider they have the 'solution' to the Human Condition. Patriotic people like JIM MOLAN may well be within our current Governments: but something is going on which prevents them from exerting any influence. Might that 'something' be GLOBALIST-MARXISM?
They should be in nursing home.
As if we can fix our problems, now we commentate about China & America
climate religion. how can you be so silly as to fall for that
Leftist termites.