That's fine Deena. Actually, Australia did something very similar to this with some British children in WWII...it's now a very notorious episode because a lot of the children were housed in institutions run by the Catholic church and were horribly abused.

Don't suppose you guys could tell me what the US could do to really tick off the Australians, enough to withdraw troop support?

If there was such a thing, I wish to god we'd done it in the last few months...

Don't suppose you guys could tell me what the US could do to really tick off the Australians, enough to withdraw troop support?

Well, nothing you've done so far has been enough, but the main issue of difference between the 2 countries at the moment is the way the US subsidises its farmers and denies Australia a "level playing field" for export (in spite of the fact that you're constantly preaching free trade).

Apart from that...perhaps you could accuse our swimmers of taking drugs?

Oooh, drug abuse insults, maybe coupled with accusations of lagging in support, and trying to leverage unfair subsidies out of our need for you. Huh, it would be a USian thing to cut off our noses to spite our faces and tell you guys we don't actually need you after all, so there.

Oh, Angus, maybe that's where part of the idea came from, the British children.. so, would Australia be willing to try again, or would they say heck no we don't need the bad press?

I mean, seriously, all our major cities are port cities.

*cough*Canberra*cough*

Deena, I'd send the kids to Melbourne. If there's the threat of war in the air, the further south they go, the further from potential risk they are. And Melbourne's a major enough city to make it plausible.

Thanks John and Angus, that's a big help. Don't suppose you guys could tell me what the US could do to really tick off the Australians, enough to withdraw troop support?

Trade policy, especially farm policy. Or, IOW, what Angus said. You might like to get rid of the current Australian government too, put the Labor Party back in (or at the very least replace the current PM).

making mad notes

You are all so awesome. Thank you for the help.

I mean, seriously, all our major cities are port cities.

*cough*Canberra*cough*

Like I said, all our major cities...

I think Australia should have a radical green party win an election and sever all ties with the US. In the story. Or, hold on, maybe I mean in real life?

New Zealand recently had that radical policy of spending far less money on the armed forces and far more on boring old hospitals and schools, who knows how far these crazy ideas will spread?

Actually I was wrong, it wasn't during WWII, it was afterwards.

And no, I don't think it would stop us taking in American children. And since they're white and speak English and come from a first world country, who knows, we might even treat them like human beings!

Thanks for the link Angus. That's heartbreaking -- so many of them!

I think I need to know too much. My protagonist is supposed to "escape" and head out into the bush sometime during the bombing. It's getting longer and more complex the more I think about it.