I was talking about yard work and mooring there for liberty. We have traditionally used either Perth or the PI's for shipyard repairs or to do pier moorings for liberty etc. Every deck on a carrier and other ships below second deck is classified. Meaning what? meaning that even prior service vets with Honorable Discharges can not come back for a look see even on a decommissioned ship. Yet hey foreign nationals come on in guys the ship is open to you. Welcome to our defense secrets.
As for replenishment? Send the USNS ships into port to load up and bring the fuel & supplies out to the ships while underway. Why is this so difficult to understand? The Navy ran supplies that way for decades. It doesn't mean a ship can't have a liberty call as long as they anchor out rather than mooring at a pier. Buying needed goods there is one thing, placing ships there in harms way is quite another. That nations loyalties change with the wind. BTW Generals are not sailors.
Thanks again for your reply but "Generals aren't sailors?" That's weak. This isn't solely about the Navy. Being the General on the ground in Iraq I would have to think he knows what makes his mission work. As I said; if he says "the UAE is absolutely vital" I have to take him at his word.