Pentagon chief troubled by Philippine president’s comments
ASSOCIATED PRESS
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter arrives at a press conference during a defense ministers meeting of ASEAN today at Ko Olina.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, seated at table background center right, gives his opening remarks for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations defense ministers meeting at Ko Olina today.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
With the US and Hawaii flags fluttering in the background, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter speaks at a press conference during a defense ministers meeting of ASEAN today at Ko Olina.
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARADVERTISER.COM
Defense ministers from the Association of South East Asian Nations countries meet with U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter (center) at the Aulani at Ko Olina today. On the left is U.S. Ambassador David Shear and on the right is Lieutenant General Chansamone Chanyalath, the minister of national defense in Laos.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter hinted at U.S. impatience with the Philippine government over inflammatory comments by President Rodrigo Duterte.
At a news conference, Carter was asked his view on pursuing greater military collaboration with the Philippines in light of Duterte’s latest remarks. Earlier today the Philippine leader compared his bloody anti-crime war to Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust and said he would be “happy to slaughter” 3 million drug addicts.
Carter said he had not discussed Duterte’s comments with his Philippine counterpart, Delfin Lorenzana, who attended a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations hosted by Carter at an Oahu resort.
“Just speaking personally for myself, I find these comments deeply troubling,” Carter said.
The Pentagon chief noted that the Philippines is a longtime U.S. treaty ally.
“Like all alliances, it depends on the continuation of a sense of shared interests,” he added. “So far in U.S.-Philippine history we have had that. We look forward to continuing that. But that’s something that we continue to discuss with the Philippine government.”
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When Carter visited the Philippines in April, he praised the strength of the partnership. Earlier this week in San Diego, he called U.S.-Philippine defense relations “ironclad.”
That seeming closeness took a sharp downturn when Duterte was elected president in June. In early September, President Barack Obama canceled a meeting with Duterte after the Philippine leader publicly called him a “son of a bitch.” Later, Duterte said he regretted the comment.
Earlier this week, Duterte said joint military exercises of Filipino and American troops scheduled for next week will be the last such drills, although his foreign secretary quickly said the decision was not final. Duterte said the Philippines will maintain its military alliance with the United States because they share a 65-year-old mutual defense treaty.
Aides to Carter said he likely would seek clarification in Hawaii from Lorenzana regarding the future of U.S.-Philippine military exercises. Lorenzana is well-known to U.S. officials after serving for more than a decade at the Philippine Embassy in Washington prior to taking the defense portfolio after Duterte was elected.
Earlier today, Carter he wants to encourage more regional cooperation in Asia and the Pacific on key issues like maritime security and combatting terrorism.
As part of a broader Obama administration push to “rebalance” its security interests by paying greater attention to Asia and the Pacific after 15 years focused mainly on the Middle East, Carter is pitching the idea of an Asian security “network.”
“The network will help us uphold important principles like resolving disputes peacefully; ensuring countries can make their own choices free from foreign coercion and intimidation; and preserving the freedom of overflight and navigation guaranteed by international law,” he said.
21 responses to “Pentagon chief troubled by Philippine president’s comments”
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Wouldn’t worry too much. If Trump gets elected, Duterte won’t have to worry about an American presence in his country. Unfortunately now is not the time for this kind of bombastic rhetoric to be coming out of any of our allies aimed at our mutual defense treaties…the American public has clearly shown with the popularity of Trump, that our withdrawing of troops and material along with money sunk into our allies military infrastructure is acceptable. Maybe even long overdue.
Especially an ally that doesn’t have the ability to protect themselves. I am afraid this clown is going to get his country into a mess he cant dig himself out of.
Just maybe, the Philippines might be better off aligning itself with neighboring China as Duterte was hinting at before.
That’s true if the PI wants to surrender all its rights in the disputed seas off its shores. And that’s fine with me. The U. S. has other and better options, lots of them. We keep hearing about how strategic the PI is. Oh really? We fought and won WW II without this island chain in our possession until the late stages of the conflict. In fact, the only reason we “returned” was because of the political insistence of General MacArthur. This archipelago should have been bypassed and our massive military power applied elsewhere such as Formosa (Taiwan). Having said the aforementioned; however, I still yearn for San Miguel beer, lumpia, LBFM’s, and sunsets observed from the Manila Hotel. Mabuhay!
Well, the Philippines definitely doesn’t want our protection, so don’t protect them when China or another country hits them back.
We are not talking about U.S. Presidential politics here. So keep your disdain for Trump to yourself. You can voice it under the appropriate stories.
Duterte cannot control the Islamic extremists and terrorists on his southern islands. He needs to get tough with that crew. He has failed so far.
The man just assumed the office in June, allie. Islamic extremism is not a problem that is solved overnight. Our own Incompetent One has been at it for almost 8 years now. Has he been successful? Hell, he can’t even call it for what it really is. In fact, he goes through great pains to avoid using the words “Islam” and “terrorism” in the same sentence. And THAT is an inconvenient truth.
Yes, eight years. Obama’s got a bigger country and has not even come close to matching Duterte’s body count. He can’t even use the words, “I give my police force” and “permission to murder undesirables” in the same sentence.
The Philippines kicked the U.S. military out of their country a long time ago. Any “mutual defense treaty” should have been void at that time.
So Disney Aulani sponsored a anti terrorism meeting? Hmmm. Did they do ” It’s a Small World After All”?
Of course, and they locked the doors and played it endlessly. I felt falsely imprisoned when I took that ride at Disney World.
He will probably break relations with the US until something terrible happens.
Duterte is on his own. Fck him. We don’t need to spend any more millions and billions of aid to his country.
Now that’s the kind of comments I would expect from President Trump.
Trump is not Duterte
Duturte better watch his own back or his military may “slaughter” him. His reference to Hitler and killing 3 million drug users is more than troubling, it’s unprecedented. The US should not ally with a government with such policies, let the Philippines get their aid from China or Russia. They have nothing we could not do without.
Would be better for Hawaii if we get out of the Philippines. First strike abilities much improved than in the past, a base in the P.I. is just symbolic. We could move the ships, planes, and military to Hawaii, Guam, and Japan. Of course, once Duterte is gone and China has ravaged their natural resources, guess who they’ll come running back to?
Just a supot little boy suffering the mental problems of advanced age, losing it.
why should we care. Détente is running his own country.
His plan is called, population control.