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Alliances are transmission belts of war.
So our Founding Fathers taught and the 20th century proved.
When Britain, allied to France, declared war on Germany in 1914, America sat out, until our own ships were being sunk in 1917.
When Britain, allied to France, declared war on Germany, Sept. 3, 1939, we stayed out until Hitler declared war on us, Dec. 11, 1941.
As the other Western powers bled and bankrupted themselves, we emerged relatively unscathed as the world’s No. 1 power. The Brits and French lost their empires, and much else, and ceased to be great powers.
Stalin’s annexation of Central Europe and acquisition of an atom bomb, and Mao’s triumph in China in 1949, caused us to form alliances from Europe to Korea, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines and Australia.
Yet, with the end of the Cold War, we did not dissolve a single alliance. NATO was expanded to embrace all the nations of the former Warsaw Pact and three former republics of the USSR.
This hubristic folly is at the heart of present tensions with Russia.
Now, Beltway hawks have begun to push the envelope to bring former Soviet republics Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia into NATO, with some urging us to bring in the Cold War neutrals Sweden and Finland.
Given the resentment of the Russian people toward America, for exploiting their time of weakness after the breakup of the Soviet Union, to drive our alliance onto their front porch, such moves could trigger a conflict that could escalate to nuclear weapons.
Moscow has warned us pointedly and repeatedly about this.
Yet now that the election is almost over, neocons burrowed in their think tanks are emerging to talk up U.S. confrontations with Syria, Russia, Iran and China. Restraining America’s War Party may be the first order of business of the next president.
Fortunately, after the Libyan debacle, President Obama has lost any enthusiasm for new wars.
Indeed, he has a narrow window of opportunity to begin to bring our alliances into conformity with our interests — by serving notice that the United States is terminating its 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty with Manila.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is proving himself to be an unstable anti-American autocrat, who should not be entrusted with the power to drag us into war over some rocks or reefs in the South China Sea.
Earlier this year, we got an idea of what a commitment to go to war for a NATO ally might mean when President Tayyip Recep Erdogan, another mercurial autocrat, shot down a Russian plane that strayed over Turkish territory for 17 seconds.
Had Vladimir Putin retaliated in kind, Erdogan could have invoked Article 5 of NATO, requiring us come to Turkey’s defense against Russia.
Given how Erdogan has acted since this summer’s attempted coup, purging Turkish democratic institutions and imprisoning tens of thousands, do the benefits of our NATO alliance with Ankara still outweigh the risks?
Duterte harbors a lifelong grudge against America for our war of 1899-1902 to crush the Philippine independence movement, after Admiral Dewey sank the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay. We liberated the Philippines, only to annex them.
A longtime mayor on Mindanao before being elected president, Duterte is reputedly the godfather of death squads that executed drug dealers and users. Now, the practice has apparently been introduced nationwide.
While campaigning, Duterte said he would Jet Ski 120 miles to Scarborough Shoal, which is occupied by China though it is in Manila’s territorial waters. Since then, he has flipped and become outspokenly pro-China.
Before attending a summit in Laos, Duterte called President Obama “the son of a whore.” He has insulted America and canceled joint military exercises. In Beijing he announced a “separation from the United States. … No more American influence. No more American [military] exercises. It’s time to say goodbye.”
“I would rather go to Russia and to China,” he added.
President Obama should email President Duterte: “Message received. Accept your decision. Good luck with the Russians and Chinese.”
Would termination of our Mutual Defense Treaty mean severing ties with the Filipino people? By no means.
What it would do, though, is this: restore America’s absolute freedom to act or not act militarily in the South China Sea, according to our interests, and not Duterte’s whims.
Whether we intervene on Manila’s behalf or not, the decision would be ours alone. Terminating the treaty would absolve us of any legal or moral obligation to fight for Scarborough Shoal, Mischief Reef or any of the other rocks in a South China Sea that are now in dispute between Beijing and half a dozen nations.
A U.S. decision to terminate the treaty would also send a wake-up call to every ally:
America’s Cold War commitments are not forever. Your security is not more important to us than it is to you. As Donald Trump has been saying, we are starting to put America first again.
On this, maybe even President Obama could find common ground.
Patrick J. Buchanan is the author of the new book “The Greatest Comeback: How Richard Nixon Rose From Defeat to Create the New Majority.”
Copyright 2016 Creators.com.
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I have two responses:
1) The world is tired of US imperialism; in many countries, there are many admirers of Putin, Duterte, and Erdogan. One hopes that the next POTUS will understand this, and perhaps follow the advice of Mr. Buchanan and allow or urge unhappy allies to cut themselves loose.
2) The coup against Erdogan was almost certainly instigated by the US. Incompetently, since it failed so miserably. But the amazing thing is that the powers it sought to install were even more ardently Islamist than Erdogan (the Gulen people are most definitely Islamist, though a bit sneaky about it). Benefiting neither the US nor Turkey. So what’s going on?
“Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is proving himself to be an unstable anti-American autocrat, who should not be entrusted with the power to drag us into war over some rocks or reefs in the South China Sea.”
What? He seems to be angry with the US for trying to drag Philippines into hostilities against China with which he wants good relations. It is US that is trying to use Philippines as a pawn against China. Duterte’s message is No Way Jose.
And he has dumped the US, and for good reason.
He is a wild man, but US foreign policy is so crazy, he sounds sane by comparison.
“Given how Erdogan has acted since this summer’s attempted coup, purging Turkish democratic institutions and imprisoning tens of thousands, do the benefits of our NATO alliance with Ankara still outweigh the risks?”
Is Erdogan really any less democratic than America?
Buchanan should know better since he wrote of how the neocon GOP purged all the ‘Arabists’ and people like Buchanan. What Erdogan did to his government, GOP did to paleo-cons and other cons not enthused over Neocon war-mongering.
Democratic Party is even worse, purging it of every deemed ‘racist’, ‘homophobic’, and etc.
US is now a nation that destroys bakeries that won’t bake homo cakes.
US is a nation where anyone can be fired from college, government, military, or corporation for any remark deemed ‘unacceptable’ by PC.
US education is filled with PC, US media is a propaganda tool of the Deep State and Zionists.
The notion that Turkey is more autocratic than the US… please.
Jews are now supporting Hillary because they want Supreme Court appointees who will ensure by law that first and second amendments are rendered null.
First Amendment is pretty much dead in practice, but Jewish supremacists want to kill it by law ordained by SC.
And look at the attack on Southern Heritage by both parties, media, and government.
Turkey is no more tyrannical than the US.
And Duterte’s war on drug gangs is humane compared to what US did to Iraq, Libya, and Syria. Remember those 500,000 kids killed by sanctions? Look at mess in Libya. Ukraine is a mess too. And US fully aided and abetted Israeli’s massacres in Gaza. And US now aids Alqaeda in Syria and Neonazis in Ukraine.
US needs to shut up about human rights talk. It is a sicko imperialist nation, the main force of evil since end of Cold War, its last glory and triumph.
Duterte is right about Obama being a son of a whore. Ann Dunham was hardly better than Lena Dunham. Trash.
Yes of course. But not because Washington is bound by any treaty. When has Washington ever entered into a treaty in good faith?
Priss? You left out Yemen.
No evidence he is an autocrat. He is right about Osambo’s mammy, and I like how he is thumbing his nose at the crumbling US empire, unfortunately he also called Trump a “bigot,” but overall he seems like a good leader.
Indeed there may be no way to stay in this agreement. Duterte is allying with China which is his right. How could we presume to “protect” them against an ally?
Perhaps it could be restructured explicitly to avoid the risk of being obligated to defend. With Duterte wanting to make changes, we may have bargaining room here.
I am usually in pretty much total agreement with Mr. Buchanan, but did someone else write this particular column?
WTH, Pat?!!
Other than weapon and cigarette manufacturers(our only viable exports)who cares?
Yankee come home,Trump for POTUS.
Nationalism is the new meme for our world,and will rescue US from the zion.
What a blown mind article! I can’t believe PB wrote such a juvenile piece. Good Gawd, what next?
Hey, he’s a politician; what else would you expect? Some think he’s a patriot who wants to put the Philippines first, but I guess only ‘Merkins are eligible for “firstness.”. What man should be entrusted with any substantial power, and what makes anyone think Duterte has the power to drag “us”into war? “We”drag ourselves into war a plenty, so why bother pointing fingers at him?
It doesn’t get much more simplistic than that, and you should be ashamed for thinking along those asinine lines. For Heaven’s sake, do yourself a favor and retract it. (Did you even write it?)
Oh, the bluster! Wow! That oughta tell ‘im! FYI, Mr. Buchanan, no one functioning above spinal cord level seriously thinks that it’s ever been the job of the US government to provide security for the US, so why would anyone think that Filipino security is important enough for the US government to worry about? Plenty of us know whose interests they really serve.
Why scribble such nonsense? Have you no self respect?
This whole piece from Buchanon is just propaganda. Duterte is killing drug dealers ?! Good! We should try it here where we have a national heroin epidemic imported from Mexico along with their gangs.
Actually, the government has a constitutional mandate to provide for our common defense. But it is OUR common defense, not foreign nations. We need to close our overseas bases, bring our troops home, and then cut our military spending by at least 50%. The nations where we currently have bases and troops can fend for themselves. We have no obligation to defend them and treaties requiring us to do that should be immediately voided. Not a single one of our military men should have to put their lives at stake defending a foreign government.
I get your point regarding Pat. But are you saying we should or should not maintain our treaty with the Philippines?
he isn’t Jacques, at least not from where I’m sitting
Pat is a smart cookie, and oftentimes you’re best off trying to read between the lines. I suspect that Pat, like you(?) and I, like this upstart politician calling Obama a son of a whore. It’s music to all our ears!
But what Pat is doing here is pointing out the dangerous insanity of our assorted war treaties, and how some pathetic nut like Erdogan can use them to drag us into a war with Russia (for instance). That is why he’s pointing out this guy as being a little unhinged, (even if, as I suspect is true, that Pat likes this guy too)
Buchanan is an American firster and has always been, even when it wasn’t fashionable. (MAGA)
I suspect that Pat, like our founders, would like us to pull out of all war treaties, and especially NATO, which is nothing but a Zio-fraud like the UN today. Tell all countries, (including especially the shitty little one) that we’ve done enough, and we’re coming home.
that’s his point (I suspect)
WOW – What a hypocrisy of Buchanan.
In WWI the US sat aside because Germany didn’t declare war on United States or its interests in the Balkans.
In WWII the US joined the UK and France because Jewish lobby groups blackmailed Harry Truman on behalf of British Jewry over his re-election. London had asked British Jewry to drag the US in the war against Germany in return for establishing a Jewish homeland in British mandate Palestine.
“I have to answer to hundreds of thousands who are anxious for the success of Zionism; I do not have hundreds of thousands of Arabs among my constituents,” President Harry Truman said in 1945.
Both Secretary of State George C. Marshall and Loy Henderson, director of the State Department’s Office of Near Eastern and African Affairs, had advised president Harry Truman that partition of Palestine into Arab and Jewish states was not workable and would lead to untold troubles in the future.
Maybe Buchanan never heard of AJC’s boycott of Germany in 1933 even before the rise of Nazi party into power.
Now, Buchanan, like the Organized Jewry, is whining because president Duterte for insulting Holocaust and America’s Jew ambassador – Oley, oley ……
Philippines would be better off distancing its former colonialist. It should align itsel with China, Iran and Pakistan.
https://rehmat1.com/2016/10/02/jewish-lobby-condemns-duterte-over-holocaust-comparison/
Thank you for your respectful and well considered reply.
Yes, I am aware of that claim, but my claim is that the constitution itself, though sold to the rest of us as an instrument of our defense, was in reality anything but. Patrick Henry, for one, boycotted the constitutional convention saying ” I smell a rat.” He did that for good reasons. Now, over 2 centuries later, it should be obvious to all why he expressed such a sentiment, i.e., it was all about protecting the “elite” and the rest of us be damned.
Frankly i posted that expecting a lot of flack and am a bit disappointed that the criticism is so mild…
Anyway, my main point is criticizing this article is that there is plenty of fodder for criticism right here at home and Mr Buchanan would do all of us a service by ignoring Duterte and instead focus on the corruption and incompetence right here at home.
I’m saying we should mind our own business, and the Western Pacific is not our business as we should have learned from what’s gone on there previously, especially regarding our meddling.
Also, treaties have been shown repeatedly to be worse than jokes. Besides, the US has a long history of breaking them, so why would anyone do it except to appease the monster?
Additionally, considering what US troops have been doing in the Philippines (as well as in other places in SE Asia and elsewhere) for over a century, and given our history (and revulsion) with Brit troops prior to the revolution, we need to bring ’em home.
Dump Duterte? Too late, Pat, he dumped US first…..Duterte seems to be smarter than Pat, and he realizes that China will dominate the western Pacific for a long time, and that China’s support, and that of Putin, are both more beneficial by far and much less dangerous than the support of American presidents like Obama. Obama gives little, but wants to dictate everything…
I agree that Mr Buchanan is a smart cookie and I’ve always considered him a first rate historian. His columns often provide historical insights that most Americas should be exposed to and in my humble opinion, he’s at his best when doing that.
Perhaps you are correct about his motives here and I hope you are, but I didn’t detect that in my read. Since you make consistently good points in your comments, I’ll probably reread the article.
Anyway, PB, being the good Catholic that he is, will no doubt agree with the idea that we should remove the beam from our own eye first and leave Duterte and the ever resourceful, intelligent, and fabulous Filipinos free do determine their own course.
True. My understanding is that most Filipinos love Dutarte and support his war against corruption and drugs. It is their country though and none of our business. We could benefit from some mass executions of criminals right here at home. It would have the added benefit of reducing the size of government.
Perhaps Pat Buchanan is giving the U.S. leadership an out, a way to save face, as Philippines turn away from us. The world is tired of U.S./Western imperialism, meddling and warmongering, as Cato said above. We need to reign in the U.S. war industry, rid our leadership of rampant corruption, rebuild our own home and take care of our own people.
Pat Buchanan has nicely prepared this narrative, ready for spin. Will the Administration be smart enough to use it? Though even if they are, the Pentagon or CIA may veto the White House’s choice.
There you have them: the people.
So far no comments about the likelihood that Anti American Duterte is putting his life at risk or at least his government by insulting and displeasing the US. I expect a coup or an assassination attempt before long if for no other reason he is setting a dangerous precedent by defying the US. We should all know by now the US plays dirty and brooks no defiance from vassal states.
I’ll try to make my case here
[while reciprocating the accolade]
in bold are PB’s nuanced appreciation for Duterte
everything in bold to me looks like PB is lauding Duterte, while pretending to criticize him, since PB always has to seem like he’s defending ‘America’, whatever that means today. And Duterte did after all call the president ‘the son of a whore’ 😉
We need to rein in the U.S. war industry.
“Reign” means something entirely different.
Absolutely. The US is a yuuuuge cash cow for the Philipines. Duterte will be ousted quickly if the US cuts off “aid”.
Duterte sounds a little unstable and psychotic although his comments about Hussein Obama were priceless. Either way he isn’t worth a cold war or shooting war with China over so we should kick him to the curb. If Russia and China want to try their hand at empire then so be it as not only have we utterly failed at democratizing the world but it’s bleeding us dry while alienating much of the world.
Let’s also get out of Europe and maybe Germany and other Western European nations will rediscover their manhood. U.S. influence/control has denatured and wussified the Germans to the point that they’re on a path to utter destruction. Germany needs to expel all U.S. military personnel and CIA agents which are only there to guard against the emergence of a pro-German/neo-Nazi type political party.
We can still have diplomatic relations and limited trade with other nations, but otherwise it’s time for fortress America.
All good points. It would be fun to discuss this further with several others here, and with Mr. B.
“Before attending a summit in Laos, Duterte called President Obama “the son of a whore.””
Duterte may be many things, but he’s spot on when it comes to Obama.
This is stupid. All the people you think are autocrats are nationalistic.
The American right should reach out to them and form an international alliance against the left, who are a bigger threat to all our countries.
The Phillipines is a US creations but like all other proxies, or allies, who believe US affiliation protects them from ‘harm”, many are waking up and going against US hegemony. Look at the Middle East, a creation of US policy and then everyone is shocked that they are against US.
There must be something inherent in US foreign policy that all of a sudden these nations rise up against their master to secure (often a useless symbol) a future they believe they have a right to. Does anyone see a pattern here?
We didn’t annex the Philippines. Had we, then the islanders would be US citizens (something they would not have minded) and they would still be either a US territory, or commonwealth as are the Northern Marianas and Puerto Rico.
I agree with Buchanan on Duterte, however. Just tell him he’s on his own and we wish the PI people the best. He will quickly find the price for aid from China carries a very high price.
Yes, I realized too late to change it.
Was hoping for a more interesting response.
There was a young lad named McCain
Who warred in Vietnam and was vain
He married a rich bitch
Who scratched his rich itch
Now he wishes to over us reign.
I’ll give myself half a point for writing that off the cuff in 30 seconds.
Well, that’s kind of true.
Translation – a patriot. As for “autocrat”, that’s a matter for the Philippine people who elected him and no concern of anyone else.
Buchanan knows this, of course, and probably also sympathises with many of Duterte’s positions (as I do). He also sees, however, that Duterte’s stand is perfect for illustrating the costs and futility of US interventionist alliance-mongering, and that Duterte’s positions are unpopular with the dominant globalist and socially liberal parts of US sphere societies, which predominate in their media and politics. Any sympathy for Duterte’s positions therefore comes second here for Buchanan to using his example as a politically effective hammer against the globalists, I suspect.
Supremacist Jews want to knockdown the 1st admendment so they can try to stop the train charging down the track … the debunking of the laughable & impossible ‘holocau$t’ storyline.
The ‘holocaust’ storyline is one of the most easily debunked narratives ever contrived. That is why those who question it are arrested and persecuted. That is why violent, racist, & privileged Jewish supremacists demand censorship. What sort of truth is it that denies free speech and the freedom to seek the truth? Truth needs no protection from scrutiny.
The ‘6M Jews, 5M others, & gas chambers’ are scientifically impossible frauds.
see the ‘holocaust’ scam debunked here:
http://codoh.com
No name calling, level playing field debate here:
http://forum.codoh.com
Why have supremacist Jews have been marketing the ‘6,000,000’ lie since at least 1869:
But Zion is rigging the election, to no surprise.
‘All the news Jews feel fit to print’
Well, there are the ‘Nazis’ with the mythological ‘6M Jews, 5M others, & gas chambers’ and there are the ‘Nazis’ without the mythological ’6M Jews, 5M others, & gas chambers’.
The ‘6M Jews, 5M others, & gas chambers’ are scientifically impossible frauds.
see the ‘holocaust’ scam debunked here:
http://codoh.com
No name calling, level playing field debate here:
http://forum.codoh.com
The ‘6,000,000 Jews’ lie and the laughing Mexican:
Video Link
Duterte is an ignorant ass. I could hear more intelligent political views in a bar on Skid Row from a bum with .25% blood alcohol level.
> Duterte was quoted by the Manila-based website Rappler calling Americans “loud, sometimes rowdy. Their larynx is not adjusted to civility.”
> He also repeated his denunciation of Obama as a “son of a whore”.
https://www.rt.com/news/363465-duterte-china-goodbye-us/
How is that civil, to call the leader of a foreign power, what he said? He thinks the rules don’t apply to him. He has no humility in his heart. Basically, it’s OK for him to be an asshole, but americans are a-holes. OK 85 IQ idiot. And I mean that literally. He lacks the introspection to understand how ignorant he is.
And out of all things he chooses to go after drugs? Yeah, 85 IQ idiot, you’ll be the first to make prohibition successful, after 150 years of wasted resources, trillions of dollars and millions of lives. He rudely ignores all history that came before him.
Nationalist? More like uses the siren song of nationalism to consolidate power, taking advantage of his naive countrymen. And this POS called Trump a bigot for not wanting to let terrorists in. I think Trump is a liiiiiiiiiiittttle bit more sophisticated than this simpleton. Duterte is actually a friend of the terrorists. He’s from Mindanao, where fanatical Muslims and Catholics are often in the same family. Terrorist Sympathizer. Evil.
Hey grapesoda,
What if that’s not the goal? What if this is a Faustian bargain with a goal of a rising wing of the Filipino-military to have a monopoly on the drug trade in a controlled manner so as to reduce violence and make it more palatable? What if this is simply elimination of the competition? That possibility has to be taken into consideration…
“Iraq has not been a major consumer of drugs but heroin from Afghanistan has been transited from Iran and then taken to Basra from where it is exported to the rich markets of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the Gulf. Under Saddam Hussein, state security in Basra was widely believed to control local drug smuggling through the city.”
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/opium-fields-spread-across-iraq-as-farmers-try-to-make-ends-meet-770651.html
Peace.
It is hard to be optimistic about American foreign policy.
The Zionist deep state controls our military and economic relationships with our neighbors.
The Zionist Jew general that runs the US Air Force sees twenty years of continuous deployment. He has glorious plans for a bigger Israel.
Well, according to this article from Peter Lee in the Asia Times, President Duterte has some pretty concrete reasons to not like the actions of the US in the Philippines, namely constant meddling by US spooks in the internal affairs of that nation, with particular relevance to his home of Mindanao:
http://www.atimes.com/article/meiring-murder-subversion-and-treason-dutertes-beef-with-us/
Certainly interesting information along with speculation to consider when making an assessment of President Duterte’s views and actions.