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July 22, 2013

U.S. Jets Drop Unarmed Bombs on Australian Reef 
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The U.S. military has sparked criticism in Australia after dropping four
unarmed bombs on a protected natural park. Two U.S. jets were forced to
dump the explosives when their training mission was canceled and they
needed to lose the extra weight to conserve fuel. The inert bombs were
dropped on the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, a highly sensitive
environmental area. The U.S. Navy says it is planning a mission to
recover the bombs. Environmentalists and antiwar activists had already
been protesting the training missions, which come as part of annual
U.S.-Australian war games. Larissa Waters, an Australian senator, said:
"Have we gone completely mad? Is this how we look after our World
Heritage area now — letting a foreign power drop bombs on it?"

 

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