umit07 wrote:Paphitis wrote:umit07 wrote:Paphitis wrote:This is for those of you who may wish to challenge my claim that Australia has bases within Cypriot territory:Britain had switched its Middle East headquarters to Cyprus in 1954. The island was the new home of the M16 Regional HQ. The intelligence gathered in Cyprus was shared with the Americans under a secret pact called UKUSA pact. Australia, Canada and New Zealand were also parties to this pact and each country was allocated an area of responsibility, with the Middle East being in the Britain’s sphere of influence. By 1955, Cyprus had even greater strategic importance due to the Baghdad Pact. This pact committed Britain to the forward defence of the region, a defence where the Cyprus Air Bases played a crucial part against Soviet expansion.
Source: The Cyprus Conspiracy - America, Espionage and the Turkish Invasion
The passage you pasted only states that Australia was a party in an intelligence sharing agreement and no more. SBA's belong solely to the UK. Who the UK chooses to provide service to is another matter.
You are forgetting about the USA/UK pact and the Baghdad Treaty, which also involves other nations such as Australia, NZ and Canada. Those nations have formed a global intelligence network which involve numerous intelligence spy facilities all over the world, and includes the 2 SBAs in Cyprus, Harold E Holt and Pine Gap in Australia, plus other facilities in Europe, Middle East and North America.
You will also note that any RAF facility worldwide is open to RAAF use, and likewise any RAAF facility is open to the RAF. The 2 services also share a common Commander in Chief for heaven’s sake.
So yes, the 2 SBAs are also vital assets for Australia and are part of a common intelligence chain.
Mate let me put it this way, whatever pact, treaty, agreement the UK has with Australia is for their own good. Australia's armed forces are like their "water boy" as far as they are concerned. When it come to the British they are worse scum then the Americans when it comes to backstabbing. It has been documented that the British had a an abundance of intel about plans of attacking Pearl Harbor during WW2, yet they never shared it with the Americans. Although the Americans had opened up their intel resources 100% to the British.
I know you work for the ADF Bafidi. But long story short, I regret I have to say it but the ADF is no more than a bitch following the British and Americans all over the world.
The ADF is nobody's "water boy". The sole purpose of the ADF is to defend Australia and protect Australian Interests. The ADF does not follow anyone except the directives of the Australian Federal Government.
Every country has alliances, and Australia is no different.
Some foreign policies are very good, such as was the case in East Timor and Solomon Islands, and others are open to popular criticism, such as the Iraq War.
May I suggest you take issue with Australia's Foreign Policy, and become politically active, in order to influence some kind of change, and leave the ADF alone.
The ADF does nothing but serve the nation as politicians deem fit.
