Aussies Get Antsy Over US Bombers: Shortly after Australia and the US announced that USAF B-1B, B-2, and B-52 bombers, deployed to Andersen AFB, Guam, would be using the Delamere air weapons range in Australia’s Northern Territory, locals voiced dissent. The mayor of Katherine in the territory told The Australian, there have been accidents “when the Americans were training.” A leader of the Greens party, Sen. Bob Brown, told ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corp.) Online, “The Australian Government more and more is allowing the Americans to view this country as the 51st state.”
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.