Duterte: US SF out of southern Philippines
 

This guy is missing a couple of marbles from his sack.

Reuters:
Duterte says he wants U.S. Special Forces out of southern Philippines

By Manuel Mogato | MANILA
President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday called for the withdrawal of U.S. special forces troops from a group of islands in the southern Philippines, saying their presence could complicate offensives against Islamist militants notorious for beheading Westerners.

Duterte, who was in the spotlight last week over a televised tirade against the United States and President Barack Obama, said the Americans still in Mindanao were high-value targets for the Islamic State-linked Abu Sayyaf militants as counter-insurgency operations intensify.

"They have to go," Duterte said in a speech during an oath-taking ceremony for new officials. "I do not want a rift with America. But they have to go."

Full article: http://reut.rs/2c8deJO

I wonder if he realizes it's a little late with his "not wanting to cause a rift with the he USA."

I think we should pull all of our assets from him...everything...especially our money!

If I were the President of the United States I'd tell Philippine President Duterte he has exactly 5 minutes to send a selfie wearing a "Got US Army SF?" T-shirt and a US Navy ball cap otherwise I'm ringing China and telling them the Philippine EEZ is up for grabs.

Acting tough for a domestic audience can be a good thing sometimes.

Acting tough at the considerable expense of a long term ally spending blood and treasure to assist in an unresolved domestic insurgency is a very very bad thing.

US or China.

Choose.

Fence sitting nations will ultimately be treated like the 5 dollar prostitutes they are.

If you've ever worked with the PI Special Forces or their "rangers", lol, I have....... let's just say they are on par with the middle eastern countries special operations units....... :rolleyes:

I think he's chosen.

Philippine President Duterte Trading U.S. Ties For China

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ralphjen.../#136742ed2442

What will be interesting is if China gets what they want from him, how fast and to what degree Muslim extremist groups will quiet down in the Philippines. I'm curious to see how much influence or control China has over Muslim extremist groups that seem to be creating opportunity for Chinese expansion as the West's expense.

The LRC turned out pretty good...for a while. Then there was that coup thing.

Indeed, I think he has. We -- the US -- need to begin seeing places like that as being either friend or foe. And once the decision is made, they need to be treated as such.

Mr. Duterte is a tool!

A lot of people I talk to tell me he is desperate for increased China investments in the Philippines including investing in textile, manufacturing and other product factories, including developing and building infrastructure and improving the job situation there.

Could be why he is doing all this for show....

He should be careful what he ask for. All they will do is swoop in and rape them for any resources and be gone with half ass aid that only last until they strip what they want. They are like the Borg.....

It's all down to greed, nationalism and also "being realistic" moving forward.

Do you want the might of the Chinese economy with you or against you?

Look what transpired with Malaysia recently as a case in point.

Prime minister gets secret donations he does not tell anyone about (income tax department included). His step son goes on a spending spree in the USA (wolf of wall street the movie), and then little by little, the truth comes out and then the money missing is far greater than everyone was led to believe.

Who steps in to save the day? The chinese government, buying up key power plants and land to shore up the Malaysian economy and saving the prime minister and his cabinet from an embarrassing situation.

And 6 months down the line, what you get is:

1) Obama being absolutely quiet about this episode
2) The Malaysian prime minister still in power
3) The news about the scandal has all but disappeared
4) The people who were making a lot of noise about this whole episode have either been arrested for 'treason' or have had their passports/travel revoked and/or have been harrassed by the authorities
5) The foreign media have forgotten all about it
6) Leonardo De Caprio is probably going to make another 50 million from his next movie
7) Malaysia has been very very quiet about Chinese activities in the South China Sea, despite the fact China is claiming the entire South China Sea pretty much down south all the way to Java and up to 10 kilometers off the coast of Borneo and Semenanjung Malaysia.

China has so much influence on so many levels within the ASEAN community, the US can do very little as an outsider. Watch, wait and see when the Chinese make an official visit to the Philippines to look at ëconomic co-operation and potential tie up's in the next year or so....

The damage has spread so deep, corruption is so bad that well, welcome to asia....

I didn't think this was going to happen as fast as it did but, he was in china this past week and shaking hands with the premier....

I would not be surprised one bit if China funded his election campaign and got him elected.

Agreed,, I also think they want to push their boundaries out into the Pacific. There is a lot of land on those islands that can be developed, both with agriculture and commercially. Population density is fairly low compared to main land China's coastal regions,, and the WORLD will not complain if they erase the muzzies in the South.

I would watch what Japan does.. No love lost,, but they can see the numbers and they are still a NON-militarized nation.

My $00.0000002 :munchin

who needs stinking assault rifles from US anyway. We are about to ban them afterall...

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-37901045

Hope he enjoys the AKs that China will sell him. Wait until they realize the whole logistics that changing rifles. New ammo, ammo pouches, depot equipment to repair them, etc.....