“Australia has also paid large amounts to some countries in the past to get them to take some of these people. I doubt the US was so amenable to money as other countries, but certainly there could be other parts of that deal. “
That, if true, makes your government a bigger bunch of “$hita$$es” that I first thought! My feelings for Australia are changing with every word you write.
If you think the United States doesn't constantly engage in this type of checkbook diplomacy, you haven't been paying attention. You're the world's masters at it - buying off other countries constantly.
I don't see any reason for Australia to apologise to the United States for doing what the United States has done to us repeatedly over the years and will do again. Nor do I condemn the United States for it. It's how international diplomacy works at times. Nations must act in their own best interests and that sometimes means a friend loses out. It happens all the time - and when it comes to Australia and America, America wins much more often than we do.
This is a bad deal for America. But the blame for that belongs to the American who made it. Barack Obama. He decided there was something in it for him. Do you want Australian governments assuming American Presidents are so stupid, we can't rely on them to make their own decisions, but we have to treat them gently? If he couldn't negotiate a good deal for America, that's the problem. Blaming us for his incompetence or malfeasance doesn't make much sense.
President Trump should back out of this deal. It's a bad deal for America and he is now the one with the power to make the decision. Whatever that decision is, he owns it. I hope for America's sake, he makes the right decision and pulls out. But if he doesn't, I can't see any reason to blame the Australian government for that. We're just not that powerful, besides anything else.