American Forces asked to leave the Southern Philippines

[Jollygoodfellow]

47 minutes ago, Gratefuled said:

Correct and I might add that the mayor of Zamboanga is/was totally against the BBL which would have given Muslims the right to establish Sharia Law in the land that they would have occupied under the bill. Slowly but surely the non Muslims would have been persecuted and driven out. The result, more land domination by Muslims. 

Seems to me you are just racist as you can not distinguish the difference between muslims and terrorist. I have just about had enough of this crap on this forum.

[Gas]

1 hour ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

Seems to me you are just racist as you can not distinguish the difference between muslims and terrorist. I have just about had enough of this crap on this forum.

I agree with that comment to a point, however most of my american friends here in the Philippines and abroad were taught from a very young age to be paranoid about some terrible enemy. 

[Gas]

1 hour ago, Mr. Bobo said:

When living in this country one must have a Plan A, Plan B, and a Plan C. I know that I do!

Do you not think that is overacting? 

I have lived here for over 20 years and the thought has never crossed my mind. 

[Mr. Bobo]

47 minutes ago, Gas said:

Do you not think that is overacting? 

I have lived here for over 20 years and the thought has never crossed my mind. 

Of course everyone's life circumstances here in the Philippines are different. My wife is involved in politics and I have been the victim of "death threats" on more than one occasion, a couple of times I had to return to America for safety reasons. I have also been told on more than one occasion by the NPA that I must pay a "revolutionary tax" and I refused. I also have a seven year old daughter that I have to watch out for. There are a number of bad things that could potentially happen to me or my family and I like to be prepared, hence Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C. 

[Mr. Bobo]

1 hour ago, Gas said:

I agree with that comment to a point, however most of my american friends here in the Philippines and abroad were taught from a very young age to be paranoid about some terrible enemy. 

I don't know what age you are but I assume you grew up during the Cold War when Communism and the USSR was the terrible enemy like many of us on the forum. Radical Islam is a different animal. I personally think that it is the greatest threat facing civilized man in the 21st century, especially given the easy access to automatic weapons, bombs, etc. Just look at Paris, Brussels, San Bernadino, Ca, Orlando, Fla etc. Radical Islam is not a nation state. These nutcases are everywhere and they come in all different colors. It's a difficult enemy to defeat that is if can even be defeated. I worked in the Middle East for 15 years and had many Muslims friends, of course they were mainstream moderate Muslims just like 99% of Muslims on the planet. It's the other 1% that we have to worry about. When I was a kid I didn't have to worry about some radical Islamist whipping out an AK47 and blowing me away at the local mall. To paraphrase Bob Dylan "The times, they are a changing".

[JJReyes]

One other possibility is Duterte does not want Americans in Mindanao to witness and document his way of eliminating terrorists. First step is to remove the US Special Forces and foreign civilians from Mindanao. Philippine laws provide immunity while in office, but Duterte may have to face an International Tribunal at the Hague later. 

[davewe]

A slightly different spin:

I just had a conversation with my wife about this issue last night. Although a staunch Duterte supporter, her concern was that eliminating the American military, who's sole reason for existence in the Philippines is to "help the Filipino people," was frightening to her. It's possible that I am a disrespectful husband - but I cracked up, laughing. I then proceeded to hit her with a little geo-political reality - that the United States government and military are in the Philippines (and dozens of other countries) - only to help the United States. This is not meant as an insult to anyone who has served in the US military, but we don't deploy forces halfway around the world just to help a few Filipinos in Southern Mindanao. I think it was JJ who referenced "intelligence gathering". We want to keep an eye on what we view as Muslim extremist groups and their relationship to ISIS. That's not a bad reason, BTW, but it ain't to defend our beloved friends in the Philippines.

The reasons Duterte might want them out have mostly been covered in this thread, but none of them have anything to do with his mental health:

1. He might genuinely believe as he stated that American troops are targets.

2. He might genuinely believe that just the existence of American troops gets in the way of any negotiations with Muslim groups he might want to have.

3. He might, as someone suggested, not want witnesses to his own military operations.

4. He might not want to be "advised", aka told what to do, by Americans.

Or all of the above.

 

Edited September 14, 2016 by davewe

[davewe]

2 hours ago, JJReyes said:

One other possibility is Duterte does not want Americans in Mindanao to witness and document his way of eliminating terrorists. First step is to remove the US Special Forces and foreign civilians from Mindanao. Philippine laws provide immunity while in office, but Duterte may have to face an International Tribunal at the Hague later. 

While this makes sense for most people, JJ, my take on Duterte is that the only thing he'd worry about at The Hague is what the girls look like 

[JJReyes]

4 hours ago, davewe said:

While this makes sense for most people, JJ, my take on Duterte is that the only thing he'd worry about at The Hague is what the girls look like 

They look like prunes. Enjoyable only if you are constipated.

[Gratefuled]

12 hours ago, Mr. Bobo said:

When living in this country one must have a Plan A, Plan B, and a Plan C. I know that I do!

Thanks, Mr Bobo, I just have Plan A.