The Arms Race Deceit! By Erick San Juan

The Arms Race Deceit! By Erick San Juan


There are so many things to watch out for in these exciting times, may it be religious or in the field of geopolitics and political economy – worldwide.

There is no doubt that in this age of high technology, humanity is very much aware of what is happening around him and with this access, one can help prevent the sinister plan of some evil-minded and selfish individuals. But on the other hand, this same technology can be used to annihilate a large part of the world’s population.

The scramble for the latest state-of-the-art weaponry is the trend set in order to sustain the war machine that will support the ailing economy of the owners of this MIC – military industrial complex.  The mere fact that Pentagon has been posting reports of their latest war materiel, of course countries that are not in Uncle Sam’s “circle of friends” will make sure that they can have (at least almost) the same weaponry or maybe better.

In his article ‘U.S. Building “Global First Strike Capacity” Against Russia and China’, Hu Yumin has cited that the “US aims to combine PGS [Prompt Global Strike] with its space and anti-missile technologies to form an integrated defense system, which could render other countries’ strategic weapons, including nuclear arms, almost useless. This could put other countries in a dilemma: they either lose the capability to launch a strategic nuclear counterattack or use nuclear weapons first to avoid devastation.

In fact, the US has allocated more funds for the development of Prompt Global Strike, a system that can deliver a precision non-nuclear weapon strike anywhere in the world within 1 hour. The number of such weapons in the US armory will continue to grow, with the Russian Defense Ministry estimating that Washington will have 1,500 to 1,800 sea- and air-based first-strike cruise missiles by 2015 and 2,500 to 3,000 by 2020.”

Despite the US defense budget cuts known as the 'sequester' went into effect last March 1, the sequester will neither cripple America’s geopolitical strategy nor its ability to project its hard power abroad. (http://m.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/20/us-military-budget-cuts-not-doomsday)

Actually the Pentagon already assured its various defense contractors last August that missile defense would still remain a priority with funds possibly coming from the so called 'black budget'. We can see this with Obama’s (part two) assurance of the installation of the second X-band radar in Japan last month.

Remember the article I wrote last August 27, 2012 – The Shield that Will Endanger Us (archived @ ericksanjuan.blogspot.com), aside from Japan, our country is also the not so secret recipient of this powerful X-band radar from Uncle Sam. So what else is new?

Like what I kept on saying like a broken record, the country’s leadership has been wittingly adhering to the wishes of a perceived master and putting the whole country in the cross-hairs of Washington’s enemies. And in the process, dragging us all to a war never of our liking.

With North Korea’s nuclear testing since its latest launch and the increase in the defense budget of China for 2013-14, and Russia’s readiness to face Washington’s Prompt Global Strike (PGS), and of course Japan’s planned military upgrades, where does Philippines fit into this scenario?

Our so-called military modernization ended up with buying spree of museum-grade military hardware, and worst they will reach our shores when the country is already wiped out from a nuclear strike. How pathetic!

The arms race is very real and with the so-called high-tech-controlled armaments, we can never tell when and where such nuclear weapon will be launch especially when access to such controls will be hacked by some evil minded person. God forbid.

Blunders!

Blunders!
By Erick San Juan


So much has been said and written on what has happened on the Sabah crisis. Nothing can bring back the lives lost in this tragic incidents and If only the government has listened to some unsolicited but sound advice from concerned citizens, such waste of precious lives could have been avoided.

The president's famous campaign slogan (and is continuously in effect) ‘patungo sa matuwid na daan’ has provided the country with a kind of standard if only the quality of his leadership holds true with this slogan. But so far as corruption vis-à-vis poverty is concerned, nothing's changed since he took office. Why is this so?

In his another famous line ‘kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap’ – the fact that poverty is still very much obvious among Filipinos and the middle class is slowly sliding to the lower class, ergo, corruption is still prevalent. The sad part is, it is some of the people in the PNoy’s loop that is doing such mischief that is reflected upon the President’s performance as the supposedly ‘better leader’ than the previous one which turned out to be ‘just the same dog with a different collar’.

Some government agencies has committed blunder after blunder that has created mistrust than faith and confidence towards the government. I have consistently reminding the voters in the last presidential elections (through my radio broadcast) that if the voting populace will not be wise enough to choose the next leaders of the land, we will end up being run by a mafia-like government. Look what's happening?

The line - ‘matuwid na daan’ will remain a campaign slogan if the government will not take the much needed extra effort of cleaning up some of his NPAs (non-performing assets) in his loop. Needless mistakes have no room in this country especially if lives are at stake. We have witnessed some mistakes that has put the country in the limelight in a very negative way and we just let them passed.

One example - the (very basic and simple) issuance of stickers for car registration (renewal or not) at the LTO, up to this time there is still no available stickers and we have been informed that the unavailability of the said stickers is already a problem since last year. That is why the media is always the last resort of our poor countrymen if the government fails to address their concerns. And in the long run, the government even has the guts to blame the media for not reporting the ‘good news’ and always the bad news.  Can they blame the media if there are no good news worth reporting at all?

Containing the mistakes domestically if the government doesn’t have the willpower to remove undesirable people within his circle should be taken seriously. Globally, our country is surrounded with flashpoints that any false move or decision could bring this country into a war not of our liking.

The mistake committed in the Sabah crisis is just a test of how far this government can handle expertise in diplomacy and geopolitics. The age old territorial disputes involving some royal families is smaller compared to another age old territorial disputes in the South China Sea with China. We hope that by this time, the present leadership has learned its lessons in dealing with such complicated issues as to finding a peaceful solutions to territorial rows.

Be wary of the lull before the storm that is brewing in the SCS. We might be caught unaware if any conflict will arise without firing a single shot from our neighbor.

Biological Weapons Vs. MAD

Biological Weapons Vs. MAD
by Erick San Juan


Who could have thought that pathogens (or germs) such as virus, fungus or bacterium can be used as weapons? Back when the time that experiments on pathogens are done to cure diseases brought about by disease-causing germs to save hundreds of thousands of both human and animal lives. Nobody knows that virus and bacteria can be a good weapon for depopulation. Now through advanced technology, the same pathogens are being experimented on against humanity. It seems that the agenda of the evil geniuses funded by the globalists will no longer need a nuclear war to wipe out the so-called ‘useless eaters’ of this planet. Biological weapons are the thing these days to eradicate a large number of the earth’s populace and avoid a mutually assured destruction (MAD) through a nuclear war.

From the paper written by Mark Wheelis and Malcolm Dando, New Technology and Future Developments in Biological Warfare states that “A number of European countries, as well as Japan, developed bioweapons during the 1930s and 1940s, fuelled in part by inflated intelligence estimates of the biological warfare capabilities of others.

Japan went on to use biological weapons extensively against China in the Second World War, causing substantial mortality. In the post-war period at least three countries the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union are known to have had large, ambitious programmes of biological weapons development.

The offensive programmes of the United States and the United Kingdom were discontinued in the 1960s; that of the Soviet Union lasted at least until its break-up. More recently, Iraq is known to have had a small, but mature, biological weapons programme. The facilities and munitions were largely destroyed by UNSCOM, but concerns about its resurgence in the absence of UN monitoring remain.”

But the question is, the line between offensive and defensive use of bio-weapons is hard to distinguish, most especially if the countries developing such weapons are doing it with utmost secrecy. Even the 1972 UN Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) which prohibits all offensive biological weapons research, production and stockpiling programs, has several weak points especially if the reasons of countries developing such research always hide in the guise of ‘for medical and/or other peaceful purposes’. Such practice and lame excuses hold true with the enrichment of uranium that may be interchange (wittingly or unwittingly) between nuclear arms to simple ‘for medical use’, all in the name of peace. Simply put, the convention does not protect against militarized biological and toxic weapons research, development and production. (Source: Biological Weapons: Bargaining With the Devil by H Patricia Hynes)

If ever, in the near future that countries will start developing bio-weapons for possible bio-war, a biological weapons arms race is not farfetched. Actually the extensive funding for such technology in the US prospered during the time of US President George Bush Jr., right after the September 11, 2001 terrorists attack on the World Trade Center. The possible attack of bio-terrorists was given top priority of the Bush era and his synthetic terrorism produced more laboratories through the big pharmaceutical companies engaged in the research and development of bio-weapons in extreme secrecy.

As Jackie Cabasso (Western States Legal Foundation) has put it - "With biological weapons, the line between offense and defense is exceedingly difficult to draw ... Secrecy is the greatest enemy of safety." Given the massive US bio-weapons research buildup, secrecy will raise the suspicion of other countries. "This bodes badly for the future of biological weapons control."

The scariest part of all is that biological weaponry involves the use of microscopic germs/pathogens that cannot be seen by the naked eyes, therefore any given population can be attacked and they will never know what hit them.

Some parts of the world has experienced this through disease like the SARS, swine and bird flu, the Ebola virus, etc. and quite obviously, they had targeted populous and developing (and underdeveloped) countries worldwide. And in order to cure these diseases, they have to buy vaccines (also from the same people who produced these viruses), and guess what, these same vaccines will produce other ailments instead of curing them.
                                            
Last week, there was a report by the ABS-CBN-Southern Tagalog  that a suspected 'Chikungunya' outbreak hits the coastal town of Batangas. More than 50 people were rushed to the hospitals and health centers. According to WHO (World Health Organization) Chikungunya is a mosquito borne viral disease first described during an outbreak in Southern Tanzania in Africa in 1952. It is characterized by an abrupt onset of fever frequently accompanied by joint pain, headache, nausea, fatigue and rash. WHO said there are NO specific drugs to cure the disease. In 2007, there was an outbreak in Europe especially in Northeastern Italy. Several other countries in South East Asia were now affected.
                                          
There is no escape except for more vigilance and concerted effort by patriotic people all over the world to stop it by exposing these globalists-funded R&D of pathogens that will produce bio-warfare for a possible bio-war.

Remember the myth of the flu virus that mutate and the vaccines? Beware!

Tit for Tat!

Tit for Tat! By Erick San Juan

Despite the death of 12 Filipinos and two Malaysians in Sabah, Malaysia, the Sultanate of Sulu refused to accept the announcements of both the Philippine and Malaysian government that the matter was over. “This issue is far from over. Sabah is ours,” said the sultanate’s spokesman, Abraham Idjarani… (Source: Manila Standard Today 3-1-2013)

The Sabah issue has gone too far as precious lives were taken, an incident that could have been avoided if only the present administration has listened to my warning.

Taken from my article - Choosing Which Side of History (April 25, 2012) that can be seen at ericksanjuan.blogspot.com : One perennial problem that has come to our attention as an observer of events unfolding in our country is the issue in Mindanao, particularly our relationship with Malaysia. The government should sit down with Kuala Lumpur and talk not only about the GRP and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace agreement but also the issue of the heirs of Kiram. This age old problem has created a rift between the Philippines and Malaysia and must be addressed as soon as possible.

Methinks that the underlying event that should have been prioritized before or parallel to the Bangsamoro peace framework agreement that was signed in October 2012 was the Sabah issue. This is the reason why I wrote the abovementioned article in April last year, I am not an expert but as I observe the confluence of events, the urgency to resolve the Sabah issue is much more important.

And now, the matter went out of hand and it blew right in front of us and the nagging question (as the title of Ellen Tordesillas' article) who is Aquino’s adviser on the Sabah issue?

This standoff came about because the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu decided to do it their way after Malacañang snubbed Kiram’s request for a meeting.

Aquino revealed this in his statement: “Let me say to Sultan Jamalul Kiram III: I have just been made aware that a letter to me, from you, was sent through OPAPP (Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process) in the very first weeks of my term, when we were organizing the government. Unfortunately, this letter was lost in the bureaucratic maze. Let me make it clear that there was no intention to ignore your letter. (Ibid)

The Kiram’s letter of request for a meeting with the President is important and urgent, so why the hell it got lost in the ‘bureaucratic maze’ at the OPAPP?

Same is true for the urgency of my advice to Malacañang last April 2012 that the Sabah issue must be resolved with extreme diplomacy because back then I have been getting feed-backs that there were already ‘personalities’ meddling on the matter that has made things more complicated. Could it be that such complication might have caused the recent conflict?  Just asking.
                                                                                
Sometimes it doesn't pay to ignore combatants like the MILF and the MNLF. It's a tit for tat. 'Great minds' among the advisers of the sultanate believed that if the MILF has the capacity for violence and will be granted an Islamic state, they can do better. Now that the Sultanate and other stakeholders felt that they are taken for granted, it's "show time" to occupy what they believe is their property. The mere fact that the Bangsamoro peace framework agreement is already an ongoing process, the speculations of some observers of a sabotage through the Sabah incident is possible. There are other speculations that can be half-truth but the truth of the matter is, bloodshed could have been avoided if PNoy and the people in his loop took heed of  my unsolicited advice.

The PNoy administration has been in the Palace for quite some time now and lame excuses are not acceptable especially when it comes to diplomacy in dealing with other government.

Another lesson learned? But for how long will the Filipinos’ patience and tolerance will last as the government solve issues perceive as based on trial and error?  Let us pray harder and help the present leadership before it will lead us to what the Rankopedia has predicted would happen. Hidden hands are moving quickly which could destroy both the Razak and Aquino administration if the situation will not be handled properly. God forbid!