Obama to shift Asia-Pacific focus away from terrorism

President Obama has reaffirmed what he calls Washington's "unbreakable alliance" with Australia during a speech to that country's parliament on Thursday.

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA (Catholic Online) - In addition to reaffirming the strong alliance between the two countries, President Obama also signaled a major shift in US policy throughout the region. He indicated that the United States would now change political focus from the war on terrorism to economic and security challenges throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

President Obama pointed out that the United States and Australia have fought together in every conflict from World War I to Afghanistan, and invoked the memory of 9/11. He said, "From the trenches of the First World War to the mountains of Afghanistan, Aussies and Americans have stood together.  We have fought together; we have given lives together in every single major conflict of the past 100 years, every single one.  The solidarity has sustained us through a difficult decade.  We will never forget the attacks of 9/11 that took the lives not only of Americans but people from many nations including Australia."

These remarks came just a day after the announcement that the US would now permanently station military aircraft and as many as 2,500 Marines to Australia. The Marine deployment is being seen as a cautionary gesture directed at China.

Beijing has objected to this movement saying the deployment, "may not be quite appropriate."
Obama added to his remarks, "As the world's fastest-growing region - and home to more than half the global economy  -the Asia-Pacific is critical to achieving my highest priority and that is creating jobs and opportunity for the American people.  With most of the world's nuclear powers and some half of humanity Asia will largely define whether the century ahead will be marked by conflict or cooperation." 

He also called on nations throughout the region to protect the fundamental human rights of all citizens.

President Obama is expected to visit the city of Darwin on Friday, after which she will attend an 18 nation East Asian summit on the Indonesian island of Bali.

---

'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'