tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14974164.post859481525597046262..comments2023-10-20T21:46:49.945+08:00Comments on Philippine Commentary: Barack Obama: Five Goals of His "New Strategy for a New World"Deany Bocobohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01443168826029321831noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14974164.post-54286324569799702482008-07-19T22:54:00.000+08:002008-07-19T22:54:00.000+08:00John,We can always sic India on them!John,<BR/>We can always sic India on them!Deany Bocobohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01443168826029321831noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14974164.post-25196784339567608612008-07-19T20:19:00.000+08:002008-07-19T20:19:00.000+08:00Taking the war to Pakistan is perhaps the most foo...Taking the war to Pakistan is perhaps the most foolish thing America can do. Pakistan has 160 million Arabs and a nuclear arsenal. Pakistan also has the support of China. The last thing the United States should do at this point and time is to violate yet another state’s sovereignty.Dr. John Maszkahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16905393599292676151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14974164.post-74095286264000442482008-07-18T08:19:00.000+08:002008-07-18T08:19:00.000+08:00blackshama, You have some very interesting points...blackshama,<BR/><BR/> You have some very interesting points and I would be happy to hear more. I would respond, but at this point, I think our gracious host might rightly judge that we are hijacking his thread and going too far off-topic. Maybe we can prevail on DJB, to post something about this topic, if it interests him, and we can thoroughly discuss it...I think it would be very interesting and enlightening, especially for a blog titled Philippine-American Commentary...Somthing along the lines of "What is the legacy that America left to the Philippines?" But what to do you think?<BR/><BR/>Regards,<BR/><BR/>Richardrchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08171802835534034109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14974164.post-73387159887603152662008-07-17T19:47:00.000+08:002008-07-17T19:47:00.000+08:00Folks,I approach the coming election as I do all e...Folks,<BR/>I approach the coming election as I do all elections: it is a race between two men, and our choices are limited to them, to the entirety of each of them. We are not choosing a Party or an ideology, but a President. Neither Mr. McCain nor Mr. Obama is running against OUR ideal of a president, nor are we choosing among them AND our ideal President. We must compare the two of them in their entirety both against each other, and then only later, when we have chosen the better man, will we have the chance to make them live up to our ideals and their promises. <BR/><BR/>I don't think GWB has been a complete success nor a complete failure. Whoever replaces him will have to deal both with his legacy and the world as he receives it on Day One. <BR/><BR/>We must care about the future than the past or the present, of course without forgetting the lessons. <BR/><BR/>Because the situation in the world is so dynamic, we definitely want a thinking President, one who is not only principled but also flexible. <BR/><BR/>Both McCain and Obama could both be roundly criticized for changing positions on many,many issues. Remember that John McCain was even rumored to have been toying with the idea of switching parties. And Obama is certainly disappointing, even infuriating many in his Party over cherished positions. <BR/><BR/>I don't think the choice is all that clear for me now because my review of both men shows them to have strengths and flaws and much in common. <BR/><BR/>Yet we are forced to choose between them, and not between them and some Ideal President that we may have in our heads.<BR/><BR/>That'll come later, as I said.<BR/><BR/>I will say one thing: there is no more doubt in my mind that both men are equally patriotic. And even if McCain is older he has more experience. yet Obama is impressive in his rhetoric and I don't underestimate that in a President if his rhetoric is met with credibility and if he can develop it into that ineffable thing that Reagan had: TRUST of the people.<BR/><BR/>At the same time, we know that whoever wins will become a part of a vast system, a bureaucracy and many competing institutions. How they "fit" into that much larger context is equally important. As the campaign moves forward, I think that "fit" will be tested and have a chance for the people to evaluate. <BR/><BR/>Most of all I am interested in their minds now, because I don't see any major disqualification on the issue of "heart".Deany Bocobohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01443168826029321831noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14974164.post-90373448824234375382008-07-17T19:17:00.000+08:002008-07-17T19:17:00.000+08:00RichardMarcos, Arroyo etc are products of the Amer...Richard<BR/><BR/>Marcos, Arroyo etc are products of the American system that was part of the "democratic inheritance" from America.<BR/><BR/>And America did not leave us with a functioning democracy in the sense Americans are familiar with it. <BR/><BR/>This Philippine Republic is still trying to come up with its own democratic system. <BR/><BR/>Which leads us to an important question. Why do Filipinos mess up their American inheritance?<BR/><BR/>Many of the former colonies of Britain have to large extent adopted their imperial inheritance while maintaining stability. No one wants to get kicked out of the Commonwealth! Even Ireland is toying with the idea of rejoining!Ben Vallejohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02963290696331676531noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14974164.post-40013457619112922572008-07-17T19:06:00.000+08:002008-07-17T19:06:00.000+08:00DJBAmerica,who else? Who else had the delusion of ...DJB<BR/><BR/>America,who else? Who else had the delusion of "benevolent assimilation"? Who else had tried to make the Philippines "in their own image?"<BR/><BR/>If America had just left us in 1902 like Cuba,we could have a series of Caudillos. But then we could blame Spain for that. Spain just wanted to impart Catholicism and in that she succeeded. America wanted to impart its kind of democracy,in that she really failed.Ben Vallejohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02963290696331676531noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14974164.post-60452522814436295752008-07-17T17:55:00.000+08:002008-07-17T17:55:00.000+08:00He has yet to personally meet with petraeus to bri...<I>He has yet to personally meet with petraeus to brief him extensively on the situation on iraq. why lock your position in advance before getting "the facts on the ground" from field commanders and iraqi officials there?</I><BR/><BR/>For Obama, why not? Positions can be "refined" as the campaign chugs along. His campaign declares so. And Obama himself has been refining position after position, from gun legislation, to oil drilling, to even capital punishment. In a very transparent move to go centrist, the winning path. <BR/><BR/>They cannot allow consistency and unchanging core values to get on the way of his charisma and current popularity. In their inexorable and determined march to the White House.<BR/><BR/>Remember media has shown us the way, Obama cannot do wrong and the Obama campaign truly believes this.<BR/><BR/>Is McCain of the same color? One supposes so, but at least he has not been touted as the anointed one to hand over global peace and harmony, and a new world order.<BR/><BR/>Optimism, meet Reality.Amadeohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00040096079637569742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14974164.post-20078353354122699232008-07-17T16:13:00.000+08:002008-07-17T16:13:00.000+08:00Michael Totten comments on the Michael Yon piece "...<A HREF="http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/is-the-war-over--11599" REL="nofollow">Michael Totten comments</A> on the Michael Yon piece <A HREF="http://michaelyon-online.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1690%3Asuccess-in-iraq&catid=34%3Adispatches&Itemid=55%23yvComment" REL="nofollow">"Is the War Over?"</A><BR/><BR/>And here's some <A HREF="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/15/AR2008071502531.html" REL="nofollow">surprisingly harsh criticism</A> from the Washington Post Editorial on <A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/14/opinion/14obama.html?_r=1&oref=slogin" REL="nofollow">Barack Obama's plan for Iraq</A>.<BR/><BR/>and take note that he delivered his speech on Iraq in advance--by doubling down on his position--before his planned visit in iraq this year (the last time he visited was in 2006, the start of the civil war and pre-surge). He has yet to personally meet with petraeus to brief him extensively on the situation on iraq. why lock your position in advance before getting "the facts on the ground" from field commanders and iraqi officials there?john marzanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08036820667908976630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14974164.post-67427567691159042662008-07-17T15:49:00.000+08:002008-07-17T15:49:00.000+08:00Obama locates the center of the war on terror in A...<I>Obama locates the center of the war on terror in Afghanistan and Pakistan, not Iraq. This is a point with which I happen to agree: why indeed should there be five times as many US troops in Iraq now than in Afghanistan? Why have al-Qaeda and the Taliban and Jemaah Islamiyah not yet been decisively defeated?</I><BR/><BR/>Didn't Iraq became the central front on the WOT after the invasion, whether the US coalition was correct in it's justification of war or not?<BR/><BR/>if the US started immediate withdrawal regardless of the situation on the ground back in 2006-2007, would that have been a good thing? that would mean leaving the central part of iraq to al queda control while the shia extremists control the south.<BR/><BR/>but i will admit that because of the Surge's success, al queda is being defeated in iraq. which means given more time, iraq is slowly becoming a stable government. And with the recent increase in violence in afghanistan, it has replaced iraq as the new central front on the warh on terrah.john marzanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08036820667908976630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14974164.post-32762723397224661312008-07-17T08:56:00.000+08:002008-07-17T08:56:00.000+08:00Earth to Obama:Sorry, Senator, wrong venue.Please ...Earth to Obama:<BR/><BR/>Sorry, Senator, wrong venue.<BR/><BR/>Please wait till you get to Paradise to deliver this mythical speech.<BR/><BR/>We here, earthmen, are real bad. We like to talk, listen, and discuss utopian scenarios to kingdom come. But our realities are always the opposite.<BR/><BR/>(HeHeHe)Amadeohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00040096079637569742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14974164.post-80101966100901347152008-07-17T07:55:00.000+08:002008-07-17T07:55:00.000+08:00Oh, and since I do feel strongly about this subjec...Oh, and since I do feel strongly about this subject, I just can't resist it..all of the evidence I've seen about Obama indicates he will truly bring Estrada/GMA levels of outstanding Governance to the US...In fact, after 4 years, I think we would be happy to trade either of them for him...keep that in mind after the US unilateraly retreats from the world stage and the economy folds like a cheap umbrella in a typhoon once all of his class warfare economic policies kick in...of course, some people would see that as a good thing.rchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08171802835534034109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14974164.post-70247984167548982822008-07-17T07:46:00.000+08:002008-07-17T07:46:00.000+08:00blackshama,I am an American, so of course I would ...blackshama,<BR/><BR/>I am an American, so of course I would say what I'm about to say..and yes DJB is right in his point...The US gave the Philippines back to the filipinos over 6 decades ago with a functioning democracy. I don't know how many Americans actually voted for <B>Marcos, Aquino, Ramos,Estrada and ta dah! (fanfare!) Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo!</B> but I don't personally know of any who did...must have been somebody else who did that, but I'm not sure who.rchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08171802835534034109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14974164.post-68327807858245956112008-07-17T07:36:00.000+08:002008-07-17T07:36:00.000+08:00DJB, I the most immediate question Obama has to a...DJB,<BR/> I the most immediate question Obama has to answer in order to have any foreign policy credibility at all is 1) Why he so adamantly opposed the surge in Iraq (his opposition to it has been purged from his campaign website in only the last few days...interesting) and 2) Why we completely supported immediate withdrawal from Iraq right in the middle of the purge (which, again, he has flip-flopped on over the past several days) and why he wants face-to-face negotiations with the biggest terrorist sponser in the world today...Ahmadenejad and Iran. <BR/><BR/>I believe the answer to these questions is that he is very far left of center candidate and will say anything to seem a centrist, but his actual policy approach, based on his REAL, though scanty and insignificant, senatorial record, indicates what his true instincts are...and they aren't what you are hoping they are...rchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08171802835534034109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14974164.post-54121120462914767432008-07-17T06:13:00.000+08:002008-07-17T06:13:00.000+08:00blackshama,hahaha! Who's failure is it though??blackshama,<BR/>hahaha! Who's failure is it though??Deany Bocobohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01443168826029321831noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14974164.post-69713463263351696482008-07-16T23:47:00.000+08:002008-07-16T23:47:00.000+08:00If Obama said"True success will take place when we...If Obama said<BR/><BR/>"True success will take place when we leave Iraq to a government that is taking responsibility for its future" <BR/><BR/>Then At last America has admitted it! The American record in the Philippines is a dismal failure!<BR/><BR/>Proof positive: Marcos, Aquino, Ramos,Estrada and ta dah! (fanfare!) Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo!Ben Vallejohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02963290696331676531noreply@blogger.com