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| President Rodrogo Duterte of the Philippines just decided to order American Special Forces to leave out of Mindanao Island in Southern Philippines. |
This is considered as the pay back from Duterte after US
President Barack Obama refused to meet him besides the ASEAN Summit in Laos for Duterte
insulting President Obama as "Son of Bitch" when President Obama criticized
Duterte's violation of human right by killing thousands people in his
anti-drugs war.
Duterte Says U.S. Special Forces
Must Leave Southern Philippines
Must Leave Southern Philippines
September 12, 2016 — 4:16 AM PDT
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said U.S. troops must
leave the southern island of Mindanao, saying their presence would worsen the
situation in the Muslim-majority area long riven by insurgency and terrorism.
The Philippines will review its policy of allowing American
forces to combat terrorist groups in Mindanao, Duterte said Monday in a speech
in Manila. As many as 1,300 U.S. special forces troops have been present on the
island since 2002.
“These special forces, they have to go," Duterte said.
“They have to, in Mindanao -- there are many white men there."
“I just couldn’t say it before out of respect," he
added. “I don’t want a rift with America but they have to go."
Duterte’s comments follow a spat with President Barack Obama
that prompted the U.S. leader to cancel a meeting last week on the sidelines of
a summit in Laos. In the past few weeks, Duterte has lashed out at the U.S. for
criticizing his war on drugs that has led to thousands of extra-judicial
killings, and denounced military killings that took place over a century ago
when the Philippines was an American colony.
Prior to Duterte’s election this year, U.S.-Philippine
relations had been strengthening. The Supreme Court in January upheld the
validity of a defense cooperation pact that gives the U.S. military the right
to increase troops deployed to the Philippines for war games, as well as
bringing equipment into military areas including Subic Bay, the former site of
a U.S. naval facility.
The U.S. has also been a strong supporter of the Philippines
as it pushes back against China’s assertiveness in the disputed South China
Sea. Manila’s military forces are dwarfed by China’s navy and coastguard.
“This could just be fallout from the Laos brouhaha,” said
Richard Bitzinger, who studies the military as a senior fellow at the S.
Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. “It is interesting
that he hasn’t mentioned the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement. Maybe he wants the U.S. to say it
really values its relationship with the Philippines.”
Duterte put the entire country under a so-called state of
“lawlessness” following a bombing in his home city of Davao on Mindanao at the
start of the month. The measure allows him to use the military to assist the
police to fight crime and violence.
Duterte said Monday the presence of U.S. forces could
inflame the situation and suggested that they may be kidnap targets or killed
by local terrorist groups.
The U.S. hadn’t apologized for alleged atrocities committed
by Americans on Filipinos in the 1900s, Duterte said, also criticizing the U.S.
over its role in conflicts in Iraq, Syria and Vietnam. American officials are
“hypocrites” for funding anti-drug efforts while calling him out for supposed
human-right violations, he said in the same speech.
Hạnh Dương
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