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March 27th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda The United States is eyeing Australia’s Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean as a potential spy base.
The Washington Post reported the US and Australia were planning a major expansion of military ties including possible flights by Global Hawk long-range surveillance drones operating fromy the Cocos Island territory.
But a spokesman for Defence Minister Stephen Smith said expanded use of the Cocos Islands was a longer-term option for closer Australian-US engagement and not one of the three priority levels of engagement.
“On the issue of drones and Cocos Islands, the details of any possible US air or ship access to the Cocos Islands have yet to be discussed or decided upon,” Mr Smith’s spokesman said.
Top priority for increased US-Australia cooperation is the rotation of members of the US Marine Corps through the Northern Territory with the advance party set to arrive early next month.
That was outlined last November when United States President Barack Obama visited Darwin.
Starting this year, up to 250 US Marines will train for six months at a time in Australia’s top end during the dry season, rising to a battalion group of 1000 in 2014 and a full 2500-strong Marine Air Ground Task Force by 2016.
Also planned is greater use of RAAF bases in northern Australia for US aircraft.
In the longer term, there’s the prospect of enhanced US ship and submarine visits to HMAS Stirling navy base near Perth.
Australia and the US have conducted joint trials of the Global Hawk, viewed as having great potential for broad area ocean surveillance. But in 2009, the government deferred further consideration until later this decade. The opposition says it would buy three new Global Hawks to watch over Australia’s vast northern borders.
Mr Smith said last year any greater use of Cocos was well down the track and that would require substantial improvements to the island’s infrastructure.
Any joint use of Cocos will depend on the upcoming US Force Posture Review as well as the final Australian Defence Force posture review.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the prospects for the enhanced use of the Cocos Island were canvassed by Mr Smith last year.
“In terms of progress on any of those matters since Minister Smith outlined them last November, there has not been any substantial progress. They continue to be the subject of discussion at officials levels,” she told reporters at a media conference in Korea.
“Our focus has been on implementing the arrangement that we struck on the deployment of Marines.”
Ms Gillard said she had held informal discussions with President Obama at the Seoul summit but they did not touch on the US global force posture review.
“We talked about what had happened in the summit, talked about prospects for further action on nuclear security and just had a personal chat as well,” she said.
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