Dollar diplomacy<\/p>\n
Philippine Daily Inquirer
\nAsia News Network
\nManila<\/p>\n
It would be inappropriate for the Philippines to ask for
\ncompensation for joining the \"coalition of the willing\" against
\nIraq, according to the Philippine ambassador to the United
\nStates, Albert del Rosario.<\/p>\n
\"I don't think it's appropriate to discuss a quid pro quo when
\na treaty ally is in need of support,\" he told the Washington
\nbureau of a Philippine newspaper. He was reacting to a suggestion
\nof Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr. that the Philippines extract the
\nmaximum benefits from the U.S. for its all-out support for the
\nwar against Iraq.<\/p>\n
Pimentel had said the Philippines was entitled to compensation
\nand other concessions for the use of its air space and refueling
\nfacilities, which President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo offered to
\nthe U.S. as her contribution to the war effort.<\/p>\n
\"What is the quid pro quo\" Pimentel asked. But Del Rosario
\nsaid that was not the way relations between the two countries
\nshould be viewed. He was trying to move away from the past
\ntransactional relationship and to build a \"quality partnership\"
\nwith the U.S., he explained.<\/p>\n
Which sounds good, honorable and dignified. But that it is not
\nthe way things are done. Certainly not by the U.S. and not in its
\nefforts to win allies and influence nations to support its war.<\/p>\n
U.S. President George W. Bush has been dangling fabulous sums
\nbefore the eyes of just about any country that would join his
\n\"coalition of the willing,\" making it look more and more like a
\ncoalition of the bought.<\/p>\n
Only last week, the Bush administration asked the U.S.
\nCongress for a supplemental US$74.7 billion for the war. Of that
\namount, almost $5 billion is to be allocated for economic and
\nmilitary aid to 19 countries, the Philippines included,
\npurportedly to help them \"wage a broader war against terrorism.\"<\/p>\n
Earlier for its help in the campaign in Afghanistan, Pakistan
\ngot $600 million in aid from the U.S. aside from having $1
\nbillion in debts written off and $3 billion more rescheduled.<\/p>\n
Most instructive, however, was how the U.S. tried to buy
\ntemporary basing rights for allied forces in Turkey. The U.S.
\nonce offered $27 billion in aid if Turkey would allow the use of
\nits bases from which allied forces could open a northern front
\nagainst Iraq.<\/p>\n
When the Turkish parliament voted the proposal down, the U.S.
\npromptly withdrew the offer. Now U.S. officials are saying Turkey
\nwould be lucky if it got $1 billion, even if it has allowed
\noverflight by allied warplanes. If this is not a monetary
\ntransaction, if this is not dollar diplomacy, then nothing is.<\/p>\n
From Afghanistan to Iraq and even the Philippines, the U.S.
\nhas been putting a price tag on every expression of support for
\nits war against terror. So if Del Rosario finds it demeaning to
\nreduce diplomacy to dollars and cents, maybe he should look for
\nanother job.<\/p>\n
His counterparts in Manila do not hesitate to tell the world
\nhow generous they can be to a faithful ally. On the other hand,
\nFilipino officials often use the size of a foreign aid package as
\na measure of how deep Philippine relations are with one country
\nor the other.<\/p>\n
When the President speaks of U.S. support in the war against
\nterrorism, she no longer sees U.S. troops actually shooting at
\nthe Abu Sayyaf or the New People's Army but dollars flowing into
\nan ill-equipped Armed Forces of the Philippines.<\/p>\n
Now that the administration has gone to bed with the U.S.,
\nsupporting a war that is unjustified and immoral, it would look
\nridiculous if it kept up the pretense of being virtuous. Del
\nRosario must surely know that more foolish than the whore who
\ndemands a high price is the whore who gives her services for
\nfree.<\/p>",
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