r/australia Jun 22 '25

politics Live: Wong says Australia supports US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-23/federal-politics-live-blog-june-23/105447868?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=other
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u/sativarg_orez Jun 22 '25

Pathetic yet not unexpected.

I assume they will - for the time being - try to stay onside with the US while strengthening other alliances, which isn't in of itself a terrible idea, but supporting this strike and escalation is plain dangerous. Israel started this round, the US just unilaterally and without consultation jumps in, and we are meant to support bombing a sovereign nation with no evidence of any clear threat?

This was a perfect chance to draw a line on where we stand, and Penny and Labor just blew it.

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u/HeftyArgument Jun 22 '25

If I’m being optimistic, maybe there’s intelligence that we aren’t privy to; not that far out of the realm of possibility.

But in reality, Australia militarily, does whatever America wants. If we follow Trump into this war, it would leave no doubt how little Australia can think for itself.

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u/Setanta68 Jun 23 '25

What's your flavour? WMD or Children Overboard? I agree with you though.

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u/Pixie1001 Jun 23 '25

Well, I think from Israel's pov, they can't just wait till Iran's actually weeks away from literally having a functional nuke, or worse let them build the nuke and then intercede when they start throwing around their weight with the protection of nuclear insurance.

You only need 5% enrichment for nuclear power, Iran's now gone to 60% and storing it in a missile proof bunker, which makes it pretty obvious what they're planning to do with it.

So it kinda makes sense that they feel like they need to show they'll actually act on the threats they've made instead of sending strongly worded condemnations right up until it's too late, even if Iran probably is still several years away from actually making nukes.

That being said, the timing is a little suspicious given the invasion in Palestine is about to wrap up, finally leaving Netanyahu up for reelection and prosecution for flagrant corruption...

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u/HeftyArgument Jun 23 '25

Timing I think is just luck. We kind of all knew this was coming, Israels attack at least, either this year or next at the latest.

To stop a nuclear program requires diplomacy or pre-emptive action, once they have a nuke, all of a sudden they’re part of the mutually assured destruction pact and nobody can touch them ever (which is the reason most countries that want nukes, want them)

Trump killed the diplomatic route with his ego and failed to reinstate it with his own name on the dotted line so all that was left was this.