When Stability Means Something Else

When Stability Means Something Else

By Erick San Juan





Washington has pledged to provide the Philippines with $18.4 million worth of precision-guided missiles this year to use in its fight against Islamist militants in the south, according to a military document seen by Reuters. This news or can we call it “leak” was picked up by several online news agencies last July 29 and by print media on the following day through Reuters.



"Fiscal year 2010 assistance for the Philippines provides a precision guided missile capability to assist Philippine armed forces' counter-terrorism efforts in southern regions to combat the activities of the Jemaah Islamiyah and the Abu Sayyaf Group," said the document, which was shown to Reuters by a defense department official on condition of anonymity.



Methinks that this is a deliberate leak which will make RP a possible target. Why use guided missiles when the military usually engaged in low intensity conflict? And why only now? It has been a decade of the so-called US military aid to fight terrorism in the south and not a single true to life development or hi-tech fire power was given to our AFP. Then suddenly, a precision guided missile capability will be part of this year’s US military assistance to us? To have this kind of weapon that will be used to fight local insurgents seems too much of a good thing. Although, any help that can bring peace and security in some parts of Mindanao is something that is very much welcome by Filipinos who wanted a lasting stability in that region. But is it really the immediate concern of Washington or is there something else?



To quote some news reports as compiled by Michel Chossudovsky’s Preparing for World War III, Targeting Iran :



In turn, large scale weapons transfers have been undertaken under the banner of US "military aid" to selected countries, including a 5 billion dollar arms deal with India which is intended to build India's capabilities directed against China. (Huge U.S.-India Arms Deal To Contain China, Global Times, July 13, 2010).



The US has military cooperation agreements with a number of South East Asian countries including Singapore, Vietnam and Indonesia, involving "military aid" as well as the participation in U.S. led war games in the Pacific Rim (July -August 2010). These agreements are supportive of weapons deployments directed against The People's Republic of China. (See Rick Rozoff, Confronting both China and Russia: U.S. Risks Military Clash With China In Yellow Sea, Global Research, July 16, 2010).



What is crucial in regards to US weapons transfers to partner countries and allies is the actual timing of delivery and deployment. The launch of a US sponsored military operation would normally occur once these weapons systems are in place, effectively deployed with the implementation of personnel training. (e.g India).



What we are dealing with is a carefully coordinated global military design controlled by the Pentagon, involving the combined armed forces of more than forty countries. This global multinational military deployment is by far the largest display of advanced weapons systems in world history.



The present context is characterized by a global military build-up controlled by one world superpower, which is using its numerous allies to trigger regional wars. (M. Chossudovsky)



The above mentioned report is the real reason why RP and other US allies will be getting “military aid”. Therefore, the planned precision guided missiles in the Philippines will serve as a magnet and we will be an easy target when the regional conflict between China and the US arises. And because of our very strategic location, our country is also relevant in Washington’s plan in the Middle East. I hope that we will play our cards well and pray that this scheme will not start an expanded regional conflict (or be part of a war) not of our choosing. God bless us all......