Thursday, October 06, 2016

Yuck Fou Obama and why Duterte is right to wean us away from our former colonial masters

First of all I don't hate Americans.  Many if not most Filipinos like the American people and things Americans. I love burgers, French fries, Hollywood movies, Traci Lords and AIDS. Ok, maybe not the last  two items. 

Though at times they are a bit condescending, I and most Filipinos (I guess) have no ax to grind against most citizens of the United states of America. So when I speak of the Americans here, I'm talking about their effing government.  

Lately, our president Duterte has been cursing Barrack Obama and his curses are not terms of endearments but a vitriolic contempt filled curses that are usually reserved for the low life drug pushers.  Duterte, it seemed to me, is not a bit intimidated by Obama who still holds the CODES to thousands of Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles nuclear warheads that could literally turn the whole country into a radio-active magma. No, our president is not impressed by the US of A.

I guess the actuation shocked many Filipinos for we have looked upon the Americans as not only an ally but a big brother protector and Pinoys are used to seeing Filipino presidents kow towing to the Americans and aligning their foreign policies to that of the foreign government's interest. In our collective mind as a nation there's this inculcated idea that we could not survive without US's suzerainty .

How do I read our president's actuations?

The president is correct in saying that the US will not automatically defend us. Of all the US's mutual defense treaty partners in the region, the Philippines got shortchanged. Why do I say this? In the Chinese-Japanese disputed islands in the South China sea, the US affirmed the Japanese sovereignty in these islands. Obama even warned the Chinese that they would go to war in defense of Japanese' sovereignity.

Another thing is what happened in Taiwan in 1996 known as the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis. Because mainland China felt betrayed by the US when the then Taiwanese President Lee Teng-Hui visited Cornell and spoke about the democratization of Taiwan. The recognition of Lee by the State Department and his visit violated the One China policy agreed upon by the US and the Mainland. In reaction, the PLA deployed missiles and conducted military exercises to intimidate Taiwan. The US, true to its commitment to the mutual defense pact with Taiwan, sent two carrier battle groups to defend the Island. The Chinese, upon seeing the US resolve to protect the renegade province and the overwhelming firepower in front of them,  backed down.


While in the case of Scarborough Shoal, which is well within our exclusive and territorial zone, the US kept mum. Pnoy has kept his ground and initiated a diplomatic war against the Chinese aggression citing the US-Philippines mutual defense pact as a deterrent, but did the US gave the country any assurance of retaliation? When Obama visited the Philippines he assured the country that the US would respond to Chinese attacks subject to the approval of US congress which means it is not automatic like that of the Japanese and the Taiwanese! I guess the US does not see us the way it sees these two economic powerhouses.

Where are the USS Nimitz and USS independence battle groups when the Chinese are invading these islands? Nothing came and instead our mutual defense protector sold us two effing World War II Hamilton class frigates, to add insult to injury, stripped of its main weapons. Our most trusted ally and the most powerful navy in the world gave us two floating WWII museum pieces!   

While Obama was still trying to make up his mind, the Chinese had built fortresses which defense experts now call unsinkable aircraft carriers.  Obama only realized the enormity of the situation when his intelligence people realized that these islands virtually neutralized their aircraft carriers at very little cost to the Chinese. The chain of island fortresses also gave the Chinese control over the shipping lanes which gave the Chinese strategic military and economic leverage  against the US.

Well, Obama sorry for you, you deserve all the disrespect our president dished at you and more.

This is the reality. The Chinese is there to stay. The US, despite it's military power, can not dislodge the Chinese short of starting a nuclear war. The only thing the US could do is parade it's fancy warships in the South China in the hope that Chinese navy would die of irritation. But here's the catch, keeping an armada in the South China is expensive and all the Chinese has to do in their island-resort fortresses is fish and enjoy the beach. 

The US navy would need ports to call to while the Chinese are comfortably entrenched in their unsinkable carriers. And now, as they see it, the Philippines, their beloved ally is starting to look good and smell like roses, again. They are wooing us. 

Well, the president sees through the charade and how, again, we would be used to forward the American's interests at our cost. I hope that the president stand firm because the Philippines should definitely deny the US armada access to its port as a revenge for its dilly dallying and inutility during the early phase of the crisis, and at the same time because we cannot afford to irritate the Chinese.

The only thing we could hope for is for the Chinese to allow us to fish there, which is what is foremost in Duterte's mind. Coitus you Americans!

2 comments:

Vince said...

Good analysis sir George... However, if it's highly questionable if US will come to our aid before, I think it is well clearer now that those hesitations of coming will not really happen since our president is choosing a different path and in fact worsening PH-US relations.

Secondly, I always believe that we can always make friends with other nations without the expense of our friends.

Yes, I am for the big YES in becoming more independent. But can he stop his idiotic rhetoric against the US, EU and UN???

George C. dela Paz said...

lets wait and see...

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