 | ||
Duterte annunced that he wants to be like Hitler to kill 3 million drug users in Philippines
|
Please read the following article from Reuters
(http://www.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-duterte-hitler-idUSKCN1200B9?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=Social )
oOo
Philippines' Duterte likens himself to Hitler, wants to kill millions of drug users
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte appeared to liken
himself to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler on Friday and said he would "be
happy" to exterminate three million drug users and peddlers in the
country.
His comments triggered shock and anger among Jewish groups
in the United States, which could add to pressure on the U.S. government to
take a tougher line with the Philippines leader.
Duterte recently insulted President Barack Obama and in a
number of remarks he has undermined the previously close relationship between
Manila and Washington.
In a rambling speech on his arrival in Davao City after a
visit to Vietnam, Duterte told reporters that he had been "portrayed to be
a cousin of Hitler" by critics.
 |
| Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte gestures during a news conference upon his arrival from a state visit in Vietnam at the International Airport in Davao city, Philippines September 30, 2016. REUTERS/Lean Daval Jr |
Noting that Hitler had murdered millions of Jews, Duterte said,
"There are three million drug addicts (in the Philippines). I'd be happy
to slaughter them.
"If Germany had Hitler, the Philippines would have
...," he said, pausing and pointing to himself.
Duterte was voted to power in a May election on the back of
a vow to end drugs and corruption in the country of 100 million people. He took
office on June 30 and over 3,100 people have been killed since then, mostly
alleged drug users and dealers, in police operations and vigilante killings.
His comments were quickly condemned by Jewish groups.
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, head of the Simon Wiesenthal Center's
Digital Terrorism and Hate project, called them "outrageous".
"Duterte owes the victims (of the Holocaust) an apology
for his disgusting rhetoric," Cooper said.
The Anti-Defamation League, an international Jewish group
based in the United States, said Duterte's comments were "shocking for
their tone-deafness".
"The comparison of drug users and dealers to Holocaust
victims is inappropriate and deeply offensive," said Todd Gutnick, the
group's director of communications. "It is baffling why any leader would
want to model himself after such a monster."
While the Obama administration has criticized Duterte over
the extra-judicial killings, U.S. officials offered no immediate condemnation
of his latest comments and instead stuck to a strategy of stressing
long-standing ties with Manila.
"We continue to focus on our broad relationship with
the Philippines and will work together in the many areas of mutual
interest," a White House official said when asked about Duterte's Hitler
comments.
EX-PRESIDENT'S WARNING
 |
| Former President Begnino Aquino |
Two days before the Philippines election, outgoing President
Benigno Aquino had warned that Duterte's rising popularity was akin to that of
Hitler in the 1920s and 1930s.
"I hope we learn the lessons of history," Aquino
said in widely reported remarks. "We should remember how Hitler came to
power."
Duterte has been scathing about criticism of his anti-drugs
campaign and has insulted the United Nations and the European Union, as well as
Obama, at various times in recent weeks.
VIDEOOutrage as Rodrigo Duterte likens himself to Hitler
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Efx6_rXzVMw
On Friday, reacting to critical comments on his war on drugs by U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy and Benjamin Cardin, Duterte said: "Do not pretend to be the moral conscience of the world. Do not be the policeman because you do not have the eligibility to do that in my country."
On Friday, reacting to critical comments on his war on drugs by U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy and Benjamin Cardin, Duterte said: "Do not pretend to be the moral conscience of the world. Do not be the policeman because you do not have the eligibility to do that in my country."
He also reiterated there will be no annual war games between
the Philippines and the United States until the end of his six-year term,
placing the longstanding alliance under a cloud of doubt. It also may make
Washington's strategy of rebalancing its military focus towards Asia in the
face of an increasingly assertive China much more difficult to achieve.
Still, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter, speaking before
the latest remarks from Duterte, said Washington had an "ironclad"
alliance with Manila.
A senior U.S. defense official, also speaking earlier, told
reporters that the United States had a long enduring relationship with the
Philippines regardless of who was president.
Another U.S. defense official pointed to participation by
the USS Germantown in an amphibious exercise with the Phiilippines military on
Friday as a sign that military ties remained unaffected by Duterte’s latest
comments.
Malcolm Cook, a senior fellow at Singapore's ISEAS Yusof
Ishak Institute, said the U.S-Philippines alliance was not necessarily at risk,
but Washington could seek to focus on ties elsewhere in the region.
"We are all in some sense becoming, by necessity,
desensitized to Duterte's language," he said.
"Diplomatically, the U.S. would say they'll continue to
work with him and the alliance is strong. But it's whether they'll continue to
strengthen that alliance or not."
(Additional reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee,
Yeganeh Torbati in San Diego, Marius Zaharia in Singapore, Jeff Mason in
Jerusalem and Idrees Ali in Washington; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan, Toni
Reinhold)
www.Vietpressusa.com
