More U.S. army forces in the Philippines to counter Chinese ambitions.
According to reports, the US army forces are set for an “increased rotational presence” in the Philippines. This comes after the recent negotiations between the United States and the government in Manila.
Both countries want to counter the growing intentions and ambitions of China in the region, and thus, increasing the American military presence in the Philippines is the result of this aim to counter China’s growing ambitions. However, this boost of the U.S. military presence in the Philippines will not provoke the Chinese government.
Currently, Washington conducts a regular joint exercise in the Southern Philippines. According to the information about the U.S. military presence in the region, a rotating force of about 500 US troops are in the Southern Philippines, but this number of troops is expected to be increased soon.
According to the reports, the Pentagon may send more advanced equipment and U.S. soldiers to the region or / and upgrade the local U.S. facilities in the Southern Philippines in order to counter the Chinese ambitions. US officials said after the first negotiations with Manila that no detailed modalities and plans have been laid out in the first round of a four-stage negotiation.
The U.S. Defence Undersecretary, Pio Batino, who participated in the first round of negotiations with Manila, said to the press that there should be a focus on high-value training exercises and activities in the region. The activities, according to Pio Batino, would focus on maritime domain awareness, maritime security and the perennial problem with disasters.
The US military abandoned its last military base in the Philippines in 1992. Between 1898 and 1946, the Philippines was a typical US colony and the military presence of American units remains controversial, of course. However, the Philippines are not able to counter such a presence or plans by the United States.
The tensions have increased in the last decade because the Chinese government began to implement the results of its ambitions in almost the entirety of the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea). Of course, the disputes over the underground mineral resources and the potentially lucrative sea lanes between China and the United States have increased since then.
Manila tries to counter the intentions and claims of China and made several diplomatic appeals to the United Nations (UN) over the “excessive claims” of China. In addition, Manila sought a greater assistance from Washington to counter the Chinese presence in the region.
The U.S. administration in Washington has, after years of the problems and difficulties in Iraq and Afghanistan, changed its foreign policy in direction of Asia. After re-directing of the foreign policy, the United States signed a docking agreement for its warships with Singapore and increased the number of U.S. troops in Australia.
Several dozen anti-American protesters carried out a protest outside the main army base where the negotiations between the Pentagon and Manila took place, although officials from the Philippines tried to reassure the people with statements such as that increased U.S. military presence will only be allowed with strict stipulations. However, it remains questionable if one should believe those statements of the Philippine officials.
Hm. I’d guess that Subic Bay Naval Base and Clark Air Force Base will be re-activated and upgraded. I’d suppose that the Marine Division might be relocated from Okinawa to the Philipines, since the Okinawans have had enough of American occupation, with the Air Force relocating from Okinawa to Clark as well. Other than making a feel good gesture to the Philipines, I’ve no notion of what actual value a short battalion of American troops would be, other than to further fragment our military. We’ve regiments here, battalions there, re-inforced companies someplace else, but precious little left in the US. Hm. I have to admit that I’m of an age where I still think of ‘troops’ in terms of combat arms, and tend to pass over the exotics. What would be cadre for, say, a UAV facility with security? Or how about pulse/plasma/scaler/weather weapons? Maybe a Tesla based earthquake generator? Our Pentagon, and its tentacles, have some presence in every facet of perverted science, so – – hm – – chemical/biological weapons manufacture? Sure, why not? just plunk the facility(s) down in the middle of Luzon someplace, and start cranking the lethal sh*t out by the metric ton. The US doesn’t give a damn about the Philipine Islands, except as some place to hide something that can’t bear the light of day. Well, that’s my thoughts on the subject, for now. Any body else?
I am not able to add anything to your comments.. same thoughts here, as usual! :)
Well, MK, maybe somebody out there who is more current on modern weapons systems will chime in. Continuing with my rather lurching train of thought, it occurs to me that about the only thing we have in our arsenal that might actually hurt Red China would be weather of geological weapons; we do have those, some supposedly well advanced and proven in use, as well as ‘portable’ versions of climate weapons. I’ve also been wondering about the batches of earthquakes in China, but am loathe to speculate. It has been alleged that the Tesla based geologic weapons were responsible for the Haiti quake as a ‘trial run’, followed by other quakes of varying magnitude up to at least Richter 7, but those are allegations only, with no hard evidence being presented.