US incapable of protecting Australia anymore, says Rudd

Sydney, May 2 (ANI): Acknowledging that the supremacy of the United States has begun to fade, Australia's new defense plan prepares the country's forces to be less reliant on America.

In a fundamental shift in defense plans, the Kevin Rudd Government has clearly stated that US primacy in the Asia-Pacific - the bedrock of the nation's security since World War II - may be ending.

A 20-year defense blueprint predicts that the rise of new great powers such as China, is set to produce growing regional tensions and a "sudden deterioration" in Australia's security.

The plan prepares for a multibillion-dollar build-up of naval and air forces to ensure that Australia can defend its northern and sea approaches.

The blueprint further says that a regional shake-up is under way, but US supremacy will not be blunted before 2030, and assesses the chances of an attack on Australia in the short term as "very remote".

The white paper called, 'Defending Australia In The Asia Pacific Century: Force 2030', is the first since 2000 and outlines a range of security threats, including instability caused by the financial crisis, cyber warfare, failed states in the Pacific, Islamist terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, and climate change.

"Australia must ensure it can protect itself amid an emerging range of great powers in the region - particularly China, India and Russia - which could lead to a "miscalculation" with disturbing consequences for Australia," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted the defense plan, as saying.

"That order is being transformed as economic changes start to bring about changes in the distribution of strategic power. Risks resulting from escalating strategic competition could emerge quite unpredictably," it added

The Minister for Defence, Joel Fitzgibbon, said the world faced "the beginning of the end" of the unquestioned dominance of Australia's principal ally since the Cold War. (ANI)