Posted on 09/13/2016 8:14:53 AM PDT by Olog-hai
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Tuesday he won’t allow government forces to conduct joint patrols of disputed waters near the South China Sea with foreign powers, apparently scrapping a deal his predecessor reached with the U.S. military earlier this year.
Duterte also said he was considering acquiring defense equipment from Russia and China. The Philippines has traditionally leaned on the U.S., its longtime treaty ally, and other Western allies for its security needs.
The remarks were the latest from a Philippine president who has had an uneasy relationship with the U.S. but also has tried to mend relations with China strained over South China Sea disputes.
Duterte said he wanted only Philippine territorial waters, up to 12 nautical miles offshore, to be patrolled by Filipino forces, but not other offshore areas that are contested. He added he opposes Filipino forces accompanying foreign powers like the U.S. and China in joint patrols which could entangle the Philippines in hostilities. …
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Talking about mental world Leaders
If the shoe fits..
Looks like ø’s islamising mission there is coming along just fine.
One can understand Duterte’s unease with the Islamist-controlled U.S.
Years ago – late 70s, I think – Orson Scott Card wrote a story about a massive multiplayer computer game (I’m not sure the concept really existed at the time). It was like Risk. You pay some money and get a country – perhaps “Italy 1920” and then you try to prosper and expand. It was also a gambling game and you could make money if you placed your bets correctly.
The plot involved personalities and I won’t go into that, but the central figure had started with “Italy 1920” (not really a promising starting point) and he had built a Greater Roman Empire and pretty much taken over the world in the game. Then, through a plot twist, he lost control of “Italy” and another player was allowed to control the Greater Roman Empire as the game approached the mid-20th century.
To the central character’s horror, the new player was horrible. He outraged allies, he empowered enemies, he destroyed his own economy, he made awful trade deals. Everything he did was ill-considered. Yet the Empire was so strong, that it withstood all of this — and the main character hoped that, if he managed to get back control, he could still save the situation.
Then the two players meet and it is revealed that the new player knows and hates the original player. And he basically says, “Watch this” and he makes one final move in the game. And in about 24 hours the entire Empire collapses. All the hatred and debt and instability within the game explodes and the Greater Roman Empire is reduced to rubble in a single day.
The second player proudly says: “I played the game even more skillfully than you did. I just played it differently.”
Obama isn’t mentioned by name in this science fiction story from about 1977, but I think it’s about him.
From video from the G20 this guy also looks sick
This is the sound of the Pax Americana breaking.
The Phils sees who is stronger, and wants to avoid being a target in a conflict it can only lose no matter who the winner is. And this in spite of the sentiments of the people, who are intensely pro-American and anti-Chinese. But reality is reality.
This is very significant news.
Nonsense. Every man has his price and I suspect President Duterte's is not that high, He probably has a big bank account in Macau and want's to make sure China keep filling it up.
Obama forced a choice between atheists and Islamists.
If your suspicions were correct, Duterte's actions of the past two months would have been the exact opposite of what they have been.
Instead, Duterte is acting consistent with his statement that he has lived a good, long life, and is not afraid to do what is best for the people of the Philippines, even if it leads to his own demise.
Islamists has nothing to do with it.
Truly, from the Philippine point of view Islamism is a secondary issue. Islam is a very minority religion there (less than 6%) and nearly entirely restricted to a mostly isolated region. It is a noisy business but - and this is often missed - this has been a cause of trouble for 400 years. Not a new thing, this is so old that artifacts of the conflict are subjects for archaeology.
The very small Philippine armed forces has that as their main problem but it is scaled to the resources being applied.
The Muslims are annoying.
The Chinese are frightening.
Far more important to the Philippines are the economy and the strategic issues of great power rivalries. The US is perceived as weak or unwilling and not to be relied on in a confrontation with China.
As far as Obama is a supporter of same, they become far greater of a factor, albeit not a direct factor on Philippine soil. It goes along with Obama projecting US weakness, which you mentioned.
Islamists has nothing to do with it
This guy’s looking more and more like a Mao clone.
I am going to defend him. I think it is a wise strategic move on his part. He knows we have an interest in what happens there and in the Spratleys. He is angling for U.S. equipment. He doesn’t want the U.S. patrol that could leave or have idiotic ROE. He wants his own stuff.
And Obama managed to lose a very important ally. His foreign policy is more to blame than anything else.
By giving such a broad opening to internationalist Red China, he guarantees that he will not have his “own stuff”.
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