Is Australia just a colony of the USA?

One thing that disappoints me about all Australian governments is the way they are so subservient to the USA government and "American" foreign policy and military interests. This was well illustrated during the Vietnam war.

Mr Harold Holt with President Lyndon Baines Johnson during the latter’s visit to Canberra on 21 October 1966. ‘All the way with LBJ’ had been President Johnson’s election slogan and Harold Holt’s use of the phrase during his visit to Washington in June 1966 created controversy in Australia.

 We sent troops to Iraq and Afghanistan just because we were scared to say no to the US. Just because our interests aligned in WWII does not mean they do now. I also question the ongoing belief that in the long run violence/war solves rather than acerbates the complexities associated with terrorism and regional ethnic conflicts.

I was pleased to see that the former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating gave a speech last night questioning Australia's focus on pleasing the US rather than building harmonious relations with our Asian neighbours.