DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
12/2/2011
While the people of the Philippines are led like little children by the different Pied Pipers of media chasing after their latest political bogeyman or boxing spectacle, the nation and its economy continue to systemically collapse. As it is, economic growth has plunged to 3.2 percent, well below the universal standstill threshold of 4 percent. Worse, there are no internal programs to lift our economy out of this tailspin, just as our foreign host economies deteriorate equally fast.
To say that the nation is stumbling into disaster because no one is carrying the torch to light the way is bad enough. But for a country to be blindly and merrily engrossed in political and other gladiator sports while unmindful of the dark shadows of past “wars to end all wars” looming above us again, this could only mean the worst for the future of all countries of the world, including the Philippines.
As we recount memories of the Philippines being one of the most devastated countries in World War II (WWII), a flashback to the past is necessary in order to make a moral and ethical stand in connection with that war. Despite ritualistic paeans to the triumph of the will of survival of Filipinos, the simple fact is that WWII resulted in much graver and still uncompensated damage to the country.
Manila was the second most devastated city in that war, second only to Prague. Eighty percent of our farm animals were slaughtered, giving rise to the hunger and poverty that have never left us since. That’s not even counting the many other debacles this country has yet to recover from.
But, the irony of it all is that the supposed enemy was the one resurrected by the victor while the Philippines, its supposed ally, was compelled to remain underdeveloped as other nations achieved First World status.
Unfortunately, there seems to be a deadened sense of history even among those who are expected to help map out the course of the Filipino nation’s march to its destiny. Instead of pointing us toward greater prosperity and security, we are routinely treated to flashbacks of defeats masqueraded as victories such as the “Fall of Tirad Pass,” “The Fall of Bataan,” or the almost comic adoration of the “Death March.”
Oh, I’m not even talking of any great victories hoped for, just “a great escape” from catastrophes that are never of our own making. Suffice it to say, there are such great but glorious, nimble footed diplomacies as that of Thailand (also during WWII) that enabled it to avoid the fate of the Philippines, which we can draw many lessons from.
But as Filipinos high and low continue to go about their little parochial ways, a repeat of the tragedy of the last global war is being set once more. Although there are already a number of perilous global security developments that should be in the headlines, this never happens. Hence, we have a country of ignoramuses — especially on events that are vital to our present and future, as well as our children and grandchildren’s welfare and security.
The recent US-Australia agreement for forward positioning of 2,500 US Marines in Northern Australia is a shot-across-the-bow not only for China, as many wrongly think, but against all of Asean and Asia. Few are aware that Indonesia protested this US deployment as vigorously as, or even more than, China, which only shows its correct understanding of this move as a prelude to creating chaos in our region.
All over the globe, Western powers — now revealed for their true imperialistic nature, which they tried to hide during the infancy of economic globalization — are spreading their war preparations. Just look at such revealed documents as “Project for a New American Century” and “Rebuilding America’s Defenses,” or listen to the operational plans spilled by Gen. Wesley Clark (commander of the invasion of Yugoslavia), who in 2006 identified seven countries to be attacked (Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Iran), and you’ll get the picture.
Whether Afghanistan was merely a side trip or part of another operational plan, no one can say. But the constancy of the “regime change” campaigns alone is absolute confirmation of the inexorable schedule of conquest in the times ahead. These are conquests needed by the West for, among other things, the loot — as we are seeing in Iraq and Libya.
Last week, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev traveled far to his country’s western frontier in a much publicized activation of its massive radar facility in Kaliningrad, announcing that it is Russia’s response to the US missile shield being established in former Eastern Soviet states. At the same time, Russia has warned that it may leave the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty or START, which it had previously signed with the US. Mind you, after tolerating insolent US provocations with this latest missile defense deployment, made under the pretext of defending against Iranian missiles — which is an insult to everyone’s intelligence, this is not a mere tit-for-tat.
China, on the other hand, is conducting its first naval exercise in the Pacific with submarines, missile ships, frigates and supply ships. Its first of several aircraft carriers in the pipeline, meanwhile, is already on sea trials.
Certainly, this US-Australia military alliance is nothing new. Remember where Gen. Douglas MacArthur fled to during WWII? Now, the US is merely preparing early, with its key strategy to control the route to the Philippine Deep — a place so deep that submarines cannot be detected by satellites.
The Philippines will be a key arena as the next world war creeps into full bloom. When it comes, the country will be a magnet for nuclear warfare and all its dire consequences (just picture Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster, which is still ongoing with nary a solution in sight). Our children face bleak prospects unless we distance ourselves from all the war parties — beginning now.
(Tune in to Sulo ng Pilipino/Radyo OpinYon, Monday to Friday, 5 to 6 p.m. on 1098AM; Talk News TV with HTL, Saturday, 8:15 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11 p.m., on GNN, Destiny Cable Channel 8; visit http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com for our articles plus TV and radio archives)
