FOX News reported:

Scheller is “currently in pre-trial confinement,” a spokesperson for Training and Education Command said of the officer’s status.

“The time, date, and location of the proceedings have not been determined. Lt. Col. Scheller will be afforded all due process,” the statement continued.

But the elder Scheller defended his son, arguing that he was only asking for “accountability” from the military’s top brass.

“He’s asking for the same accountability that is expected of him and his men,” he said.

“I’ve had Vietnam veterans contacting me applauding him for his courage because they too want to know: Was it all worth it?” he continued. “And by demanding accountability and honesty from his senior leaders, that’s all he was asking. And the way the Marine Corps has dealt with it: They have now put him in jail.”

The UK is a long way from the Pacific. But London is front and centre of moves to secure this region against the perceived China threat while Pacific Islands themselves complain they are sidelined.

The AUKUS alliance has come as an unwelcome surprise to at least one Pacific leader. Kiribati President Tanati Maamau says he was not consulted.

He has told ABC TV's China Tonight he feels disrespected. He has lodged a complaint but says he has had no reply.

This comes after France has withdrawn its ambassador, furious at having its $90 billion submarine contract abruptly cancelled. France is a Pacific power with more than a million citizens in the region where it controls territory.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been at pains to describe AUKUS — Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States — as key to providing stability and peace to an increasingly volatile region.

To AUKUS add the Quad — Australia, the US, India and Japan — a collection of democracies formed in response to China's rising power.

Mr Maamau wonders why this cooperation does not extend to countries like his. He is especially concerned about Australia developing nuclear-powered submarines.

My heart is exploding pic.twitter.com/AJUmkYPV70

— Ella 🦅🦅 (@ellapk3) September 27, 2021

Lamentable, but true.

Washington DC is the place where policymakers are obliged to confront the discomfort of thought. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute Canberra is about to join them on the shores of the Potomac.

Almost lost in the backwash of the decision announcing the creation of AUKUS was a statement from Defence Minister Peter Dutton to the effect that ASPI was going to be enabled to open an office in the US capital. This is a very sound decision in our national interest and also as a unique contribution to American strategic debate (full disclosure: I was the chair of ASPI for 7½ years and have continued as a Senior Fellow over more recent times).

ASPI has come a long way since its foundation in 2001. Prime minister John Howard deserves marks for this forward-looking decision, which was supported by then opposition leader Kim Beazley, and served to make ASPI, by and large, a bipartisan concern from its inception.

As executive director of ASPI, Peter Jennings has pursued the objective of a Washington presence with a single-mindedness of purpose and a clear appreciation of the value of such an initiative. But until very recently, he was unable to persuade the Australian government of its virtue. Enter Peter Dutton.

The Defence Minister has been routinely dismissed over the years by opponents and, indeed, by people in his own party as being a very rough diamond unlikely ever to be polished. If this were ever true, it certainly is no longer.

As Defence Minister, Dutton has emerged as a much more thoughtful player and is far better focused on Australian national interest over the longer term than seeking an immediate electoral advantage through a political brawl. It is a welcome change but one not yet widely acknowledged in Canberra.

The timing of the ASPI Washington initiative could not be better. Australia rates well across a bipartisan board in DC, as Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s visit underlines. Washington is often bitterly divided along partisan lines, but there is a consensus in the congress about the importance of Australia as a reliable ally and the seriousness of the global strategic shifts that are occurring in our regions of the world.

Within the Biden administration, senior figures have made it clear that Australian interests will not be ignored by the US. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, definitively, Australia will not be left on the pitch. These are the words of a friend and ally, and have a particular resonance in Washington, where president Harry Truman once scathingly remarked: “You want a friend in Washington? Get a dog.”

ENDS

https://twitter.com/peterwells/status/1442279907992616960