Monday, July 14, 2003
Champions in the war against terror.
More news from home:
Al-Ghozi, two Abu prisoners escape Posted: 5:07 PM (Manila Time) | Jul. 14, 2003
INQ7.net with GMA 7 and Agence France-Presse
FATHUR ROHMAN Al-Ghozi, the most senior Jemaah Islamiyah militant jailed in the Philippines escaped from a Manila prison Monday, police said, in a major setback to the global war on terrorism.
The escape embarrassed President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at the start of an official visit by Australian Prime Minister John Howard, like President Macapagal-Arroyo a key US ally in the war on terrorism.
Philippine National Police Chief Hermogenes Ebdane confirmed the escape and immediately sacked the jail's security detail.
...
My first reaction was to laugh at the sheer presumptuousness of the press hack responsible for (or the Malacanang press official who fed him) the line "major setback to the global war on terrorism". The sad fact is that the "biggest setback" will be to the international reputation of the Philippines, to its tourist industry, and to the welfare of Filipinos abroad. Don't go to our country please, terrorists walk out of jails and bandits prowl the streets. Don't worry though... you can still order your brides online.
Never mind the fact that this whole war is a manufactured illusion played out solely for the benefit of the US - i.e. the "special relationship" Arroyo's lips have with Bush's behind. Never mind that in the overall picture we don't even merit a mention on the US State of the Union address whereas Britain got full marks (not that Bush did them any favors).
Once again, our government thinks that just because it got crumbs that it can boast of tasting the cake. Arroyo is "embarrassed" by the escape because, "like Howard", she is a "key US ally" in the global War on Terror. Just like Iraq was in the good old 1980s. And Iraq probably made out better than we did with all the hardware the US military exported there.
Soon we will make much of our "commitment to global freedom" and hitch our star to the bootheels of the butcher of Baghdad again (hint: it's not Saddam). There we go, guns blazing into the Mindanao jungle, the little brown cowboy, ready to give up his countrymen for sake of the free world. Uncle Sam needn't get his hands dirty, we are perfectly willing to hunt down the Moros, the NPAs, whoever even vaguely constitutes a threat to Amerika, for the price of a few old tanks and helicopters.
And in the meantime, good luck finding direct investment in our ecozones, or visitors to our beaches, or even importers for our locally made products. All that will have to wait. After all, doesn't US security come first?
Al-Ghozi, two Abu prisoners escape Posted: 5:07 PM (Manila Time) | Jul. 14, 2003
INQ7.net with GMA 7 and Agence France-Presse
FATHUR ROHMAN Al-Ghozi, the most senior Jemaah Islamiyah militant jailed in the Philippines escaped from a Manila prison Monday, police said, in a major setback to the global war on terrorism.
The escape embarrassed President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at the start of an official visit by Australian Prime Minister John Howard, like President Macapagal-Arroyo a key US ally in the war on terrorism.
Philippine National Police Chief Hermogenes Ebdane confirmed the escape and immediately sacked the jail's security detail.
...
My first reaction was to laugh at the sheer presumptuousness of the press hack responsible for (or the Malacanang press official who fed him) the line "major setback to the global war on terrorism". The sad fact is that the "biggest setback" will be to the international reputation of the Philippines, to its tourist industry, and to the welfare of Filipinos abroad. Don't go to our country please, terrorists walk out of jails and bandits prowl the streets. Don't worry though... you can still order your brides online.
Never mind the fact that this whole war is a manufactured illusion played out solely for the benefit of the US - i.e. the "special relationship" Arroyo's lips have with Bush's behind. Never mind that in the overall picture we don't even merit a mention on the US State of the Union address whereas Britain got full marks (not that Bush did them any favors).
Once again, our government thinks that just because it got crumbs that it can boast of tasting the cake. Arroyo is "embarrassed" by the escape because, "like Howard", she is a "key US ally" in the global War on Terror. Just like Iraq was in the good old 1980s. And Iraq probably made out better than we did with all the hardware the US military exported there.
Soon we will make much of our "commitment to global freedom" and hitch our star to the bootheels of the butcher of Baghdad again (hint: it's not Saddam). There we go, guns blazing into the Mindanao jungle, the little brown cowboy, ready to give up his countrymen for sake of the free world. Uncle Sam needn't get his hands dirty, we are perfectly willing to hunt down the Moros, the NPAs, whoever even vaguely constitutes a threat to Amerika, for the price of a few old tanks and helicopters.
And in the meantime, good luck finding direct investment in our ecozones, or visitors to our beaches, or even importers for our locally made products. All that will have to wait. After all, doesn't US security come first?
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