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I posted this on bfc but I thought it was interesting enough to post here also. I thought you guys and spamhog may have some interest.
I was a very surprised at dinner last night when i spoke to some filipino army surgeons (from mindano) at the next table and asked them what they thought of US military in their country, thinking they would appreciate the hand to control the mainly muslim terrorist that operate mainly in the south.
These terrorists like the abu sayeff gang, extort, use bombs on buses, kidnap, assasinations, blow up churches, the usual thing, including taking resposibility for the ferry fire last week that killed nearly 200 people, and are allegadly the Asian link to AQ and the House of Saudi and export terror around the region. From memeory they also tried to assinate the Pope, do a 911 5 years ago with 2 United 747 flights and who knows what else. So they are bad dudes, not huge but bad.
Well these diners (men and women) said they hated and resented the yanks from being there and so did the majority of filipinos, civil and military according to them. Give me a break.
One of the most corrupt countries in the world that resembles a giant cluster fuck that cant even afford to go after these bad guys with tech tools and horsepower? they siad the “yanks big note themselves, strut around, go shopping, generally wank off in full military uniform, parade around like feather dusters, screw our women get them pregnant and piss off (ok that part doesnt suprise me) and achieve nothing”.
Talk about gratitude. In a filipino election year (murder season) when the choice for president is between a female rhodes scholar and current president and another washed up actor.
There a lot of people in Japan who aren’t too happy about the bases here. The US soldiers bear the brunt of some very anti-US reporters too. I am sure they have their indiscretions but I think the resentment is a little disproportionate. However the strategic reality is that they won’t be leaving any time soon.
Nobody likes foreign military on their soil.
Of course they strut and fuck, its normal. And its normaly resented.They may be welcomed initially, when they adjust a situation that has gotten out of hand.
If they do not leave immediately, they are like 4-day guests or fish: they smell!!It is a hard concept to grasp that the small man in the street would rather be
opressed by people he knows than being constantly reminded of his countries inability to get it up by itself by soldiers in strange uniforms.The reason being that the military presence does not change anything. They are just there. There is no tangible PROGRESS.
That has nothing to do with not being grateful.
I heard the same about Afghanistan and the numerous NGO´s. There seems to be a genuine hostility against people who are just seen driving around in darkened, airconditioned cars, blowing most of the donated money on financing their own organisational structure without getting anything worthwhile going for the poeple.
Its the thinking that just being there will make everyone happy – if they are not, fuck them – ungrateful bastards.
I am happy that I am not a yank, having to explain democracy to someone who thinks it remarkable that a nation of idontknowhowmanymillions manages to democratically elect two Presidents from the same family within a very short time and has the nerve to point the finger at my country, shouting: ” corruption “.
OK I never thought too hard about local feelings to freindly foreign deployment except at face value over that dinner, my friends and I agreed at the time those lousy flipino’s were ingrates. I probably wouldnt like a foreign military operating on my home turf for that matter other than training which regularly occures. I’m not an American either Frogman but I’d rather have some good guys ‘helping out’ than not. Last time I was in Korea plenty of people didnt like foreign militaries operating there, maybe part of that feeling is part of the asian ‘face’ thing.
Here is the one I was thinking of: A bit of fun for the Aussies and Yanks.
Good link Rob, from memeory the ill feeling towards the yanks was “over paid, over sexed and over here”. My dad had some funny stories re other altercations, a big one in liverpool and Darwin. As a teenager my mother liked going to the red cross dances where plenty of yanks attended, they had the bucks, dressed sharp, bought gifts, and were fun guys.
Couple of other WW11 stories in Darwin my dad was there during the first bombing by the Japs, they saw a whole bunch of planes fly over and assuming they were US waved to them. Then the horror unfolded. My dad talked of fishing half bodies of US servicemen out of the harbour. There was a Jap civvy photographer who took portraits of all the servicemen in Darwin. The night before the raid he laid out sheets indicating targets to the Jap pilots, he didnt make thru the next day.
My dad was with some US troops scouting islands north of PNG. They were discovered overwhelmed, shot and bombed, my dad and some others escaped and hid watching while the Jap soldiers, who had their supply lines maxed out, skinned and ate their Australian and US mates.
He refused to buy anything Japanese during his life (but did like German stuff) I think he liked my Japanese (at the time) girlfriend tho. Eventually he died with Japanese metal still in him.
In regards to your original post about what they think….. let me throw out a few things. This from a “Kano” who is living here for almost three years and works with the Police/private security section in and around Mindanao.
Filipinos LOVE Americans, treat you special and have generally adopted our Pop culture as their own. However, they DO NOT love American military,(partly because of the reason listed in this thread) or any military for that matter, specially their own….every where you go, you here tales of the “Old days” and of course Marcos and Martial law, many preceive US influence in Marcos invoking martial law. The Phils booted us out of Clark and Subic so certain powerful families here could get their hands on all the resources, real estate and goodies left behind.
There is a marked dislike of the US prevelant in the upper classes, the ruling elete as I call it, By most estimates there are about five hundred families that control most of the Politics, enterprise and finance here. These folks seem most opposed to US intervention of any type. The group you mentioned were doctors etc, may be from this particular class, strange because they have the most to gain by maintaining the status quo and the most to loose if the Moro sepratists and worse the NPA ever gain control.
Yet they think they can control the “rebeldie” with their ineffective military and police. And there is a great deal of outside help like the Saudi’s the Lybians on one end and all the commie symps on the other.
Lately a lot of craziness has been going on as the election heats up, GMA has her backers but suffers from a loss of confidence, Fernando Po Jr may make it if they can decide if he’s a Filipino citizen or not. If Ping Lacson gets in….everybody duck.
Spamhog
Muscrat, sorry if I sounded harsh, no offence man. I have only been there once, just at the time when Marcos was run out of town and there was an earthquake . Being dumb as I was, I was relieved of all my moneys on the first night, when thinking I had made great friends awoke in a mens room at 5óclock in the morning with a headache and empty pockets.
The german owner of the place accepted only my passport as collateral for the astonishing bill me and my unknown friends apparently accumulated.Luckily I was working for Lufthansa at the time and the local office supplied me with enough pesos to get out of it in style – with some to spare to do the same thing again for a week.
I have since studied escrima for years after that incident and have developed a mild understanding of the disturbing mindset of the people there.
The Moros are not a real threat to the stability of the country, which is completely opressed by local landlords in a way that we find very hard to understand.
If they(the Moros) would relax on the religious issue and play the revolutionary tune, the effect could well be devastating and may have a very real chance of toppling the ruling class.As it is, they continue to rally for whoever pays the bill and stabb whoever pisses them off.
Mabuhay
I’d like to think that the reason behind elite hatred of America is that we often treat immigrants from their country better than they treat their less-fortunate compatriots. More likely, people from the lower classes are more likely to have relatives sending them what seem like boatloads of American money and stories about children entering tenth grade. That can make the other proles uppity…
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