Two and a half months after Pearl Harbor, Japan went ashore on Timor island. Geography doesn't change and neither does people's willful ignorance of it.
Just want to note that I almost killed Jose Ramos-Horta by nearly dropping him as he attempted to jump aboard the breasting barge in high seas during a reception.
It is too bad that we generally are ignorant of our military history. Aren't the Chinese with their Tianxia very close to the Imperial Japanese and their Ichiu Hakku of the 1930s-40s? If we do look back at where the Japanese invaded in the early months of WWII, we will see a pattern that looks very familiar to us in the present. Where was the center of action for the Japanese? Why, in the South China Sea and surrounding waters.
I would not be surprised at all if PRC has plans for some land/sea deal close to the Sunda Straits and Bali Straits. I do hope we have something a bit more formidable than the old Asiatic Fleet to deter PRC actions.....
The gas fields in Timor Sea have always been of particular interest to me.......HELIUM for airships, don'tcha know. Wrote that Darwin was center of R&D for airship development, 39 years ago. glad Marines are staging from there now; and hoping for that "more" "faster" in that area.
(and Manus?.....yes to floating drydocks) Good post, CDR
Yes. But that somnolence and arrogance rests on ignorance.
Who among us was ever really taught 20th Century US history? Maybe up to the Great Depression, but from there through WWII (in my day) or through the GWOT (these days, I presume) we got maybe a couple of class periods.
There's enough US history of import that we need to shift our focus to the 20th, do some serious study of late 18th to very early 19th century and skim over the rest with probably some focus on 21st century as well.
Of course that's but a wild dream. The education system is ossified and largely run by those with anti-American sentiments.
Niger had a few things to say about the Biden State Department.
“Nigeriens were saying, ‘Americans are our friends, they will help us this time to annihilate the terrorists.’ But there was radio silence,” Zeine told the newspaper, adding that Niger would have not looked to Russia for help if the US had responded to requests for more support, including for planes, drones and air defense systems.
The Niger leader said he had told Phee that she had “come here to threaten us in our country. That is unacceptable. And you have come here to tell us with whom we can have relationships, which is also unacceptable. And you have done it all with a condescending tone and a lack of respect.”
I don't believe that was the result of a bad education.
Well, not bad education like you're thinking probably.
But bad education in that they were allowed to think that we should dictate to the world how they will conduct their business and are allowed to think. Despite the fact that their norms and legitimate concerns are far different from ours or that a Western solution may well not work at all in the situation.
Though to be fair, that's largely the Ugly American syndrome and its been around for 3/4 of a century or so now.
The state of history education in USA is abysmal. University level history & historiography has been captured by the hard Left. In essence, the idea is to cherry-pick facts to support dominant Leftist narratives. While HS & lower “history” has been similarly toxified by Leftist themes. And Military History is shunned at all levels.
On that last point, I recall how my son was once chastised by an 8th grade skool-teacher for writing a paper about the fighting at Lexington & Concord….. during the part of his US history course that covered the American Revolution.
And I recall a certain controversy over a HS principal who was removed by the board because he forbade the history faculty from “teaching about war.” So events like the Civil War, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, etc were presented entirely out of context of the actual kinetics of the time.
I believe I've said this here before, but I will repeat myself as it is germane:
Even though we won the economics and to a (much) lesser extent the military encounters of the Cold War, which caused the disintegration of the Soviet Union such that we could claim victory. What we didn't notice was that we were mortally wounded by the cultural part of the war. The communists had infiltrated many of our social structures, higher education being especially targeted and successful as that gave the opportunity to metastasize to any number of disciplines.
From time to time there is a rally and a spark of recovery, but the cancer is deep and only radical surgery will remove it. But it is quite likely that the surgery will kill us as surely as the cancer at this point.
China creep it's called in the South Pacific. You are so right Derek Simmons. Australia has relied on first the UK, then the US; now they must decide. Where do they live? Culturally In the West and geographically in the East. A fascinating geopolitical question. The South West Pacific.....so many islands. China.....so many people!
Long ago, as the Soviet Union was coming apart, I encountered a senior officer of the Red Army. Long discussion…. Among my questions was whether a post-Soviet Russia had concerns over Chinese claims to Siberia. He smiled (!) and said, “No, the natural development of China will be to move south into Australia.”
He said it with an air of total confidence. “Natural development.” As if the General Staff had war gamed the next fifty years. Which is probably the case.
Australia has a mixed history with East Timor. We led the INTERFET mission to maintain peace and stability when ET separated from Indonesia in 1999. Even today there are churches and other social organisations active in delivering aid of various sorts.
On the negative side, we bumbled an intelligence mission in the early 2000s, the exposure of which damaged relationships to a level we’re still recovering from. Ironically in the light of our host’s remarks, the goal there was to support Australian oil & gas producers.
And as other commenters have noted, our current leadership is obsessed with meaningless leftist virtue signals, and this is what gets all the publicity. Even though the majority of us Aussies are fed up with Albo’s pandering to the CCP and trying to look statesman-like in the Middle East instead of dealing with much more important issues at home.
Good Evening CDR Salamander. East Timor hasn’t crossed my radar since 1994. I’m glad you’ve analyzed that it would make a good base for the PRC.
I’m glad you’ve cited Australia to take the lead in not sure Australia will. I’m glad East Timor broke free of Indonesia. I left Indonesia at the end of March 1994. I’m glad the tourism of Bali hasn’t spread to ET. I agree that eyes should be kept on ET, lest he “Home-Phone”. … and just who would that be? PRC! For that very reason Australia … watch out lest you are stung by scorpion’s tail. Thank you! I’ll join you in the Chart Room, anytime and bring you hot tea. Nurse Jane
After reading this as a former USAID program functionary, I looked into what USAID was doing in East Timor. It's a bit tough now, since DOGE shut down the website with its country pages listing programs and wiped out the thousands of documents on foreign aid dating back to the 1960s, which were useful to any other agency looking for details about how a developing country was operating.
Some things survive on contractor webpages and elsewhere. Looks like there were health programs, agricultural programs with those AID agriculture mainstays fish farming and greenhouses, an anti-corruption program, a tourism program, improving the electrical grid and an airport. Here's an Asian Development Bank matrix showing some of the AID program among other ADB members' programs. https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/linked-documents/cps-tim-2023-2027-dcm.pdf
I'm sure many here believe the absolute lies the Ketamine addict told about USAID. I'll stipulate that there was waste, even corruption. But even the corruption served a purpose because it was in the nature of spreading cash among influential local people and others.
Perhaps the US footprint abroad is too big. But if you want to be hegemonic, you can't do it by making the whole world your enemy. USAID did what one boss of mine in Iraq called "feeding the beast." She meant providing the continuous stream of engagement with foreign decision makers and information about them the US foreign policy apparatus demands. USAID was not part of "the Intelligence Community." But it was providing a lot of intelligence through its engagements and reports, through what is called "the country team" in an embassy. Some people say that some programs were covers for clandestine activities like agent recruiting, but I can't confirm that.
I was in Manila in February when DOGE was burning everything down. Hundreds of millions were cut from active programs in the Philippines. The commentary in Manila's four very lively newspapers was not positive.
"The Head of State stated that he was not bothered by the temporary [now permanent] halt in USAID operations, saying that Timor-Leste could turn to other partners for help.
'I think it's also good to do our own evaluation to see which partners we can continue to work with," said Horta."
Russia and China have a beautiful “Relationship”. The Indigenous peoples living in these areas have a beautiful relationship with their land including the mammals and aquatic life there.
What these people need to sustain a “Quality” Life is good, housing, energy and domestic products. Families there “Teach” their “Work-Ethic”, their “Cultural Beliefs”.
The United States, in my opinion should applaud their “Way of Life” spanning generations. United States leaders should work directly with Arctic Leaders asking, “How can we help in a “Respectful Relationship?”
I always recommended to our Northwest Public Health Centers to place Registered Nurses onto the Boards representing these peoples, seated at the table. Case in Point, Telemetry…with these advancing AI modalities, not Physician Assistants but Registered Nurses!
My go-to person via telephone or eye-to-eye is the “Pharmacy-D” person. He tells me exactly the components of a medicine. Same antibiotic for the Eye with preservatives because it is so closely adjacent to the BRAIN: the Ear antibiotic doesn’t have these “Preservatives”.
I studied Nuclear Weapons, 1984 - current.
I studied Batteries, 1983 - current.
I can learn about “Precious Minerals/Metals” and Teach “Safety”.
I’m prepared to lead the United States Militaty … “Peacefully with Respect” to Russia and China and their beautiful Indigenous peoples.
I’m prepared to sit with full attention and a “Translator”, sit to Listen, sit to use my sharp Brain Skills and “Understand”! Demonstrating “Active Listening” by
Verbally saying and Writing in their Language, translator necessary, Russia and China’s Goals. To include How the United States will assist.
CDR Salamander, let’s try to calm the nervous nations. You certainly can because I listened to your voice and style of communication. Thank you Mark at Farm Broadcasting. Nurse Jane respectfully request to depart Chart Room.
—-…—-copy TASS—-…
“The Chinese political scientist recalled that with Europe cutting energy ties with Russia following the Ukraine conflict, it has been forced to import costly US energy. The Arctic's rich resources, including its reserves of rare earth metals, "fit neatly into the US' energy agenda."
"Strategically, enhancing US military deployments in the Arctic and attempts to achieve military superiority there are also important tools for containing Russia," Zhang Yao emphasized.“
It seems during the last hundred years and more that The United States has occupied/allied/nurtured islands moving west across the north Pacific. Now China is occupying/allaying and nurturing islands moving east across the south Pacific towards their Belt and Road ports in South America.
A recent visit I made to French Polynesia confirmed the substantial population of Chinese in the islands which the French appear to have abandoned.
In addition to the reality of geography which cannot be wished away, you also note this:
.....“Australia needs to step in and step up. No one else can or should lead here in a way that would benefit the interests of the West”...
BUT
Something something as far as the East is from the West, [Insert ALBANESE]
Two and a half months after Pearl Harbor, Japan went ashore on Timor island. Geography doesn't change and neither does people's willful ignorance of it.
https://johnmenadue.com/post/2022/02/remembering-darwin-and-timor-february-1942/
Just want to note that I almost killed Jose Ramos-Horta by nearly dropping him as he attempted to jump aboard the breasting barge in high seas during a reception.
It is too bad that we generally are ignorant of our military history. Aren't the Chinese with their Tianxia very close to the Imperial Japanese and their Ichiu Hakku of the 1930s-40s? If we do look back at where the Japanese invaded in the early months of WWII, we will see a pattern that looks very familiar to us in the present. Where was the center of action for the Japanese? Why, in the South China Sea and surrounding waters.
I would not be surprised at all if PRC has plans for some land/sea deal close to the Sunda Straits and Bali Straits. I do hope we have something a bit more formidable than the old Asiatic Fleet to deter PRC actions.....
Unlike Imperial Japan, the CCP has a depth of resources that Japan never did or will have.
History may rhyme but is never the sameZ
Oh yes, there are many parallels here. China plans to reinvent the wheel.
The gas fields in Timor Sea have always been of particular interest to me.......HELIUM for airships, don'tcha know. Wrote that Darwin was center of R&D for airship development, 39 years ago. glad Marines are staging from there now; and hoping for that "more" "faster" in that area.
(and Manus?.....yes to floating drydocks) Good post, CDR
Turn your glance from the board and China will creep the pawns forward. Will we wake up before checkmate?
China works for the long game, they plan for a thousand years, while the US and western powers only plan for four years.
Somnolent and arrogant Western Powers.
Yes. But that somnolence and arrogance rests on ignorance.
Who among us was ever really taught 20th Century US history? Maybe up to the Great Depression, but from there through WWII (in my day) or through the GWOT (these days, I presume) we got maybe a couple of class periods.
There's enough US history of import that we need to shift our focus to the 20th, do some serious study of late 18th to very early 19th century and skim over the rest with probably some focus on 21st century as well.
Of course that's but a wild dream. The education system is ossified and largely run by those with anti-American sentiments.
Niger had a few things to say about the Biden State Department.
“Nigeriens were saying, ‘Americans are our friends, they will help us this time to annihilate the terrorists.’ But there was radio silence,” Zeine told the newspaper, adding that Niger would have not looked to Russia for help if the US had responded to requests for more support, including for planes, drones and air defense systems.
The Niger leader said he had told Phee that she had “come here to threaten us in our country. That is unacceptable. And you have come here to tell us with whom we can have relationships, which is also unacceptable. And you have done it all with a condescending tone and a lack of respect.”
I don't believe that was the result of a bad education.
Well, not bad education like you're thinking probably.
But bad education in that they were allowed to think that we should dictate to the world how they will conduct their business and are allowed to think. Despite the fact that their norms and legitimate concerns are far different from ours or that a Western solution may well not work at all in the situation.
Though to be fair, that's largely the Ugly American syndrome and its been around for 3/4 of a century or so now.
The arrogant part brought to you by William and Mary and GWU. They are essentially feedstock for the PoliSci types that come to D.C. to spawn.
The state of history education in USA is abysmal. University level history & historiography has been captured by the hard Left. In essence, the idea is to cherry-pick facts to support dominant Leftist narratives. While HS & lower “history” has been similarly toxified by Leftist themes. And Military History is shunned at all levels.
On that last point, I recall how my son was once chastised by an 8th grade skool-teacher for writing a paper about the fighting at Lexington & Concord….. during the part of his US history course that covered the American Revolution.
And I recall a certain controversy over a HS principal who was removed by the board because he forbade the history faculty from “teaching about war.” So events like the Civil War, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, etc were presented entirely out of context of the actual kinetics of the time.
I believe I've said this here before, but I will repeat myself as it is germane:
Even though we won the economics and to a (much) lesser extent the military encounters of the Cold War, which caused the disintegration of the Soviet Union such that we could claim victory. What we didn't notice was that we were mortally wounded by the cultural part of the war. The communists had infiltrated many of our social structures, higher education being especially targeted and successful as that gave the opportunity to metastasize to any number of disciplines.
From time to time there is a rally and a spark of recovery, but the cancer is deep and only radical surgery will remove it. But it is quite likely that the surgery will kill us as surely as the cancer at this point.
Sadly as long as the Leftist Albanese team is in charge Australia is a bit lost.l cause. He’s handed East Timor to the CCP and totally botched things.
This is on top of alienating both the US and US ally Israel. On top of failing to actually increase defense spending.
Agreed. Expect nothing from any country that chooses HAMAS.
China creep it's called in the South Pacific. You are so right Derek Simmons. Australia has relied on first the UK, then the US; now they must decide. Where do they live? Culturally In the West and geographically in the East. A fascinating geopolitical question. The South West Pacific.....so many islands. China.....so many people!
Long ago, as the Soviet Union was coming apart, I encountered a senior officer of the Red Army. Long discussion…. Among my questions was whether a post-Soviet Russia had concerns over Chinese claims to Siberia. He smiled (!) and said, “No, the natural development of China will be to move south into Australia.”
He said it with an air of total confidence. “Natural development.” As if the General Staff had war gamed the next fifty years. Which is probably the case.
Australia can always rely on her new found friends in Gaza for help.
At least they won't be draining Australia's SAM, bomb, and artillery stocks.
Australia has a mixed history with East Timor. We led the INTERFET mission to maintain peace and stability when ET separated from Indonesia in 1999. Even today there are churches and other social organisations active in delivering aid of various sorts.
On the negative side, we bumbled an intelligence mission in the early 2000s, the exposure of which damaged relationships to a level we’re still recovering from. Ironically in the light of our host’s remarks, the goal there was to support Australian oil & gas producers.
And as other commenters have noted, our current leadership is obsessed with meaningless leftist virtue signals, and this is what gets all the publicity. Even though the majority of us Aussies are fed up with Albo’s pandering to the CCP and trying to look statesman-like in the Middle East instead of dealing with much more important issues at home.
Good Evening CDR Salamander. East Timor hasn’t crossed my radar since 1994. I’m glad you’ve analyzed that it would make a good base for the PRC.
I’m glad you’ve cited Australia to take the lead in not sure Australia will. I’m glad East Timor broke free of Indonesia. I left Indonesia at the end of March 1994. I’m glad the tourism of Bali hasn’t spread to ET. I agree that eyes should be kept on ET, lest he “Home-Phone”. … and just who would that be? PRC! For that very reason Australia … watch out lest you are stung by scorpion’s tail. Thank you! I’ll join you in the Chart Room, anytime and bring you hot tea. Nurse Jane
After reading this as a former USAID program functionary, I looked into what USAID was doing in East Timor. It's a bit tough now, since DOGE shut down the website with its country pages listing programs and wiped out the thousands of documents on foreign aid dating back to the 1960s, which were useful to any other agency looking for details about how a developing country was operating.
Some things survive on contractor webpages and elsewhere. Looks like there were health programs, agricultural programs with those AID agriculture mainstays fish farming and greenhouses, an anti-corruption program, a tourism program, improving the electrical grid and an airport. Here's an Asian Development Bank matrix showing some of the AID program among other ADB members' programs. https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/linked-documents/cps-tim-2023-2027-dcm.pdf
I'm sure many here believe the absolute lies the Ketamine addict told about USAID. I'll stipulate that there was waste, even corruption. But even the corruption served a purpose because it was in the nature of spreading cash among influential local people and others.
Perhaps the US footprint abroad is too big. But if you want to be hegemonic, you can't do it by making the whole world your enemy. USAID did what one boss of mine in Iraq called "feeding the beast." She meant providing the continuous stream of engagement with foreign decision makers and information about them the US foreign policy apparatus demands. USAID was not part of "the Intelligence Community." But it was providing a lot of intelligence through its engagements and reports, through what is called "the country team" in an embassy. Some people say that some programs were covers for clandestine activities like agent recruiting, but I can't confirm that.
I was in Manila in February when DOGE was burning everything down. Hundreds of millions were cut from active programs in the Philippines. The commentary in Manila's four very lively newspapers was not positive.
The president of East Timor Jose Ramos Horta tried to put a positive spin on the end of USAID last February, when it was framed as "temporary." There was a story about it in the local news: https://en.tatoli.tl/2025/02/05/trumps-foreign-aid-suspension-wont-hurt-timor-leste/19/
"The Head of State stated that he was not bothered by the temporary [now permanent] halt in USAID operations, saying that Timor-Leste could turn to other partners for help.
'I think it's also good to do our own evaluation to see which partners we can continue to work with," said Horta."
Were we talking about reliable partners?
This ain't Chinese checkers or is it?
More like three D Chess on a grand scale.
The PRC can patrol virtually right over that Marine base.
Good Morning CDR Salamander,
May I join you in the Chart Room please?
Let’s look at the Arctic.
Russia and China have a beautiful “Relationship”. The Indigenous peoples living in these areas have a beautiful relationship with their land including the mammals and aquatic life there.
What these people need to sustain a “Quality” Life is good, housing, energy and domestic products. Families there “Teach” their “Work-Ethic”, their “Cultural Beliefs”.
The United States, in my opinion should applaud their “Way of Life” spanning generations. United States leaders should work directly with Arctic Leaders asking, “How can we help in a “Respectful Relationship?”
I always recommended to our Northwest Public Health Centers to place Registered Nurses onto the Boards representing these peoples, seated at the table. Case in Point, Telemetry…with these advancing AI modalities, not Physician Assistants but Registered Nurses!
My go-to person via telephone or eye-to-eye is the “Pharmacy-D” person. He tells me exactly the components of a medicine. Same antibiotic for the Eye with preservatives because it is so closely adjacent to the BRAIN: the Ear antibiotic doesn’t have these “Preservatives”.
I studied Nuclear Weapons, 1984 - current.
I studied Batteries, 1983 - current.
I can learn about “Precious Minerals/Metals” and Teach “Safety”.
I’m prepared to lead the United States Militaty … “Peacefully with Respect” to Russia and China and their beautiful Indigenous peoples.
I’m prepared to sit with full attention and a “Translator”, sit to Listen, sit to use my sharp Brain Skills and “Understand”! Demonstrating “Active Listening” by
Verbally saying and Writing in their Language, translator necessary, Russia and China’s Goals. To include How the United States will assist.
CDR Salamander, let’s try to calm the nervous nations. You certainly can because I listened to your voice and style of communication. Thank you Mark at Farm Broadcasting. Nurse Jane respectfully request to depart Chart Room.
—-…—-copy TASS—-…
“The Chinese political scientist recalled that with Europe cutting energy ties with Russia following the Ukraine conflict, it has been forced to import costly US energy. The Arctic's rich resources, including its reserves of rare earth metals, "fit neatly into the US' energy agenda."
"Strategically, enhancing US military deployments in the Arctic and attempts to achieve military superiority there are also important tools for containing Russia," Zhang Yao emphasized.“
It seems during the last hundred years and more that The United States has occupied/allied/nurtured islands moving west across the north Pacific. Now China is occupying/allaying and nurturing islands moving east across the south Pacific towards their Belt and Road ports in South America.
A recent visit I made to French Polynesia confirmed the substantial population of Chinese in the islands which the French appear to have abandoned.