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from https://nypost.com/2021/09/22/biden-admits-botching-aukus-rollout-after-call-with-france/
Biden admits botching AUKUS rollout after call with France’s Macron
By Steven Nelson
September 22, 2021 1:13pm Updated
MORE ON: FRANCE
White House press pool rages as Biden snubs US scribes at UK meeting
So UK media managed to ask 2 questions, US none, at the photo
opportunity. This causes media rage. What number of questions will
dial it down to annoyance? Criticism?
Into the storm: Biden arrives in NYC for UNGA amid France rift, drone
tragedy
President Biden on Wednesday spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron
and admitted to botching the rollout of a new security pact with the UK
and Australia by snubbing France in the process.
In a joint statement, Biden and Macron said, “The two leaders agreed that the situation would have benefitted from open consultations among allies
on matters of strategic interest to France and our European partners. President Biden conveyed his ongoing commitment in that regard.”
So botching is defined as more consultations could have been done.
The new pact has several dimensions, more US troops in Australia, more technology exchange, which opened the door for the RAN to go nuclear submarines. The first two are fairly routine, the submarines are the
obvious reason for the super secrecy. And that would be driven by
Australia, it had the really big immediate announcement to finesse.
In the days leading up to the pact various news stories from the usual
reliable unnamed sources were assuring that despite all the problems
the deal with France was going ahead.
Not only has France been selling submarines to Australia it as been offering high level public support to Australia over the problems with China, plus support for a new Australia EU trade pact, including by the French
President.
So it is not just the submarines. The EU will of course almost always choose France over Australia.
Therefore to what extent should the US be entitled to expect with so much at stake the Australian Government would provide France with a comprehensive
and timely explanation of what was happening and why? It was not for the US
to explain the Australian Government's contract cancellation, more sensible
to
stay out of that fight if possible. The official notification to the French President
went out the night before and at the moment the Australian Prime Minister's office is not making public whether the Prime Minister spoke to the French President or not. By the looks of the reports of the French President's current
refusal to take a call from the Prime Minister the answer would appear to be no.
Of course his political opponents are likely to say the answer was yes,
hence
current no.
What would the headlines have looked at if the French found out via the US government? The US has a comeback to French anger, sharing the same
technology with some European countries. The French Ambassador to the
US is going back soon, to "start intensive work with senior US officials",
the
one to Australia seems set for a prolonged absence.
Start with anyone know whether Australia asked for or was offered the
relevant reactor technology?
Macron last week recalled France’s US ambassador after being blindsided by the launch of AUKUS, which will help Australia build nuclear-powered submarines.
Assuming given the time scales involved any are built at all, there is
that 18 months of deciding what to do first and the way the cost and
time blowouts seem to be ongoing.
People do understand most of the Australian Strategic Fuel Reserve,
the one even the civilian agencies recommend, is largely located in
the US? And owned by the US?
The primary reason for AUKUS is to counter China and it was unclear why
the pact would leave out France, a leader in nuclear energy and a colonial power that has several large island territories in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overseas_France
These are large island territories? Why did the pact leave out Canada
given its nuclear energy sector, Pacific coastline and similar problems
with China? The RCN submarines could do with an update.
As a result of AUKUS, a French company lost a contract to build
conventional submarines for Australia.
Nothing at all to do with delivery times blowing out by years and
costs heading for double the original budget?
AUKUS ironically was launched to patch up the US-Australia relationship
after Biden snubbed that country’s prime minister, Scott Morrison, during the US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.
So the US actually went from no sharing of some very secret
technology with Australia to a three way deal with the UK in about a
fortnight?
Sounds like a can do administration?
The talks have been going on for months at least and certainly at the
Cornwall G7 meeting. After which the Australian Prime Minister met
the French President in Paris. Another reason for upset.
Australia, which fought alongside the US throughout the nearly 20-year
war, reportedly learned of the Aug. 31 US withdrawal date from news
reports and Biden didn’t call Morrison during the frantic evacuation of Kabul last month.
No Australian troops present, they left by end June, Australian Embassy
shut down 28 May 2021, announced about 3 days earlier, like all other
powers involved processing of the departure of those who helped the
troops was on a steady path, not rushed.
So the previous US president set 1 May for withdrawal, on 14 April 2021
the date was put at about 4 months, to be done before 11 September, on
8 July the date became 31 August.
https://www.factcheck.org/2021/08/timeline-of-u-s-withdrawal-from-afghanistan/ https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp2122/Quick_Guides/BackgroundToAfghanistanWithdrawal
Then came the collapse. With lots of people the Australian Government
said it was going to look after trapped, including those affected by the embassy closure causing delays.
So who is saying Australia learnt which withdrawal date from the media,
rather than through diplomatic channels? So why should the US President
call the Australian Prime Minister in the frantic days? What would such a
call accomplish? The RAAF did run airlift sorties, the media reports
stating after flying the aircraft from Australia first.
It seems the idea the US has a snubber in chief, snub nose chief? Who is responsible for Australian Government decisions and actions.
The Australian Government is no doubt grateful for those putting the US president between it and France, they probably would like similar support
for Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand and maybe some others.
Similarly putting the US President between the Australian Government and
the gap between the number of Afghan citizens who helped Australians and
the number evacuated is also welcome.
Though what the government really needs at the moment is for the US
President, complete with snub, to intervene in the saga of a blind trust donating towards $1 million to a Federal Cabinet Minster to pay the
Minister's
legal bills. Preferably along the lines done nothing wrong, entitled to
stay in
Parliament and become a minister again in the future.
If that can be done then, as usual with any government that has been in
power for pushing a decade, there is a list of other issues that could do
with help. Definitely before the next election, due by end May 2022.
Given the US wish to be bipartisan I know the Loyal Opposition can
easily put together its own list, with a similar deadline. The Bipartisan
US President Snub Agreement, BUSPSA. Bipartisan American
President Snub Arrangement, BAPSA?
Nothing personal but Australians and Australian Governments are
capable of making their own decisions without going through the
US President or needing such help or approval. If the US media
wants the US President to take responsibility or blame for various
Australian decisions Australia would like to decide which ones
instead of being used in domestic media by a journalist with an
interesting set of variations on things like timelines.
Geoffrey Sinclair
Remove the nb for email.
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