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| Southeast Asia |
| NYT: Philippines Viewed as Being Forced to Yield on Hostage |
| 2004-07-16 |
| NYT - I think Michelle Malkin would disagree with Conde... For login: BugMeNot By CARLOS H. CONDE - July 16, 2004 MANILA, July 15 - President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had no choice but to accede to the demands of Iraqi insurgents who abducted a Philippine truck driver last week and threatened to kill him unless the country withdrew its troops by July 20, analysts and critics said Thursday. The risk of disappointing Washington, her most important ally, was easily outweighed by the potential political retaliation that could have imperiled Mrs. Arroyo's political and economic agenda for the next six years, they said. The hostage, Angelo dela Cruz, 46, a father of eight, appeared Thursday night on Al Jazeera, the satellite network, looking and sounding upbeat. Al Jazeera quoted him as saying that he would return home soon, although the militants supposedly told the network that Mr. dela Cruz would not be released until the last Filipino soldier was out. Mr. dela Cruz thanked the Philippine government for agreeing to the withdrawal, which started Wednesday with the departure of 43 of the 51 Filipino police officers and soldiers in Iraq. But Mrs. Arroyo's decision "was very serious and damaging" to Manila's relationship with Washington, a United States diplomat stationed here said. He did not elaborate, except to add that Washington had not expected such a move from Mrs. Arroyo, who is widely considered its strongest supporter in Southeast Asia and whose country has received by far the most military aid of any country in the region. The United States ambassador to Manila, Francis Ricciardone, said Wednesday that America continued to support the Philippines. "We are allies,'' he told reporters. "We are here for you." But Edgardo E. Dagdag, a national security expert at the Asian Center of the University of the Philippines, said the pullout "will raise a lot of questions as to how dependable the Philippines is as an ally in the fight against terrorism." The Philippines, he said, needs the United States in its own fight against terrorism. "So if we are vacillating now, I doubt if we can get America's full support," Mr. Dagdag said. |
| Posted by:.com |
| #7 Mrs. Arroyo's is the Philippine version of John Kerry in my opinion. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2004-07-16 3:46:31 PM |
| #6 LH: i dont think we want to see ANY state fall to the Islamofascists A power vacuum in the area would be fun to watch, but probably not fun to live through, for the people in the region. Would Malaysia / Indonesia be interested in adding the Philippines archipelago to to their holdings? Sure - but in the absence of Uncle Sam, they would still have to worry about the Chinese response - i.e. the Chinese would probably want a piece of the action. And what would be the Japanese and Korean response to China and Malaysia / Indonesia? Hey, let's pull the troops out from Korea and Japan and find out... |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2004-07-16 3:00:05 PM |
| #5 i dont think we want to see ANY state fall to the Islamofascists, giving them save haven, training camps, etc. If that happened wed have to invade, or at least bomb regularly - its probably a more economical use of our forces to keep providing aid. Im sure there are other areas where we can "punish" those who dont contribute in Iraq. |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2004-07-16 10:07:21 AM |
| #4 It does show that we live in interesting times. But very sad. Much has been said about this but, again, Latino weakness when solidarity is the best head, almost Gailic, no. Oh Rome! |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-07-16 2:30:33 AM |
| #3 Well we can't base our Navy or Airforce there anymore so whats the BFD with cutting them loose? |
| Posted by: FlameBait93268 2004-07-16 12:45:58 AM |
| #2 Um, no, the Phillipines sits too close to important trade routes to let that happen. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2004-07-16 12:43:21 AM |
| #1 Mrs. Arroyo's country will continue to have it's hand out to the US and expect support even after this. Screw them. We should have let the Japanese army keep them. Kiss my rosey red rear end, no more aid to the Philippines. Let the JI and MILF have them. Cowards/ |
| Posted by: FlameBait93268 2004-07-16 12:36:36 AM |