CPP/Ang Bayan: Editorial--Aquino is dragging the country into a US war of aggression, and must be opposed

Ang Bayan editorial posted to the CPP Website (Apr 10): Aquino is dragging the country into a US war of aggression, and must be opposed

The Aquino regime acted ike the true-blue puppet that it is when it made assurances two days ago that the reactionary Philippine state would assist and support the US’ looming attack on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

With not even a hint of advocating or forging an independent foreign policy, the Aquino regime declared it an “obligation” on the part of the Philippines to side with and support US warmongering under the RP-US Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) of 1951.

The Filipino people must take a stand and resist the Aquino regime’s puppetry to US imperialism and for dragging the Philippines into intervening in the Korean Peninsula and the Asia-Pacific. Such a policy endangers the Filipino people. Worse, the Aquino regime has been allowing itself to be used as a pawn in a war against a sovereign country that has been asserting its own independence.

Insisting that it is the country’s “obligation” under the MDT to support US warmongering exposes the excessive one-sidedness of this military treaty. Amid the Aquino regime’s posturing against China in 2011, the US made it clear that it would not “automatically” side with the Philippines should the latter go to war against China on the Spratly Islands dispute.

On the other hand, there is no basis for the Philippines to take the US’ side in the latter’s wars of aggression and intervention against a sovereign government.

The Aquino regime’s unhesitating obsequiousness tp US dictates was made clear in Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario’s statements made a few days after he received directives from US Secretary of State John Kerry and US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel when the three of them met in Washington. The US officials impressed on Del Rosario that the Philippines is obliged to comply with the provisions of the unequal treaty.

At the same time, the US and the Aquino regime are using their saber-rattling against the DPRK to justify further the Balikatan Exercises that began on April 5. This year’s Balikatan involving 8,000 US and Philippine troops are being held in Central Luzon. Should the US war of aggression against Korea push through, the US would surely use its forces that are now in the Philippines.

The US also used the Balikatan to show off its military prowess by flying a squadron of F/A-18 fighter jets. The Balikatan is a regular military exercise between the US and the Philippines that aims to enhance interoperability between the AFP and the US military and enable the US to use Filipino soldiers as force multipliers in US operations to assert American hegemony in the Asia-Pacific.

Alongside such regular military exercises, the US continues to use the Philippines as a docking point for its warships and landing point for its warplanes. Under the Aquino regime’s “full access” policy, US military forces have been able to use the country’s air and sea ports and various other facilities.

The Aquino regime invokes the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) in justifying its “full access” policy. Under the VFA, American troops are free to lord it over Philippine territory and use the country as an instrument in waging war, dragging the Filipino people into conflicts that are not of their own making.

The Aquino regime must immediately stop allowing itself to be used as a tool by US imperialism in intensifying tensions on the Korean Peninsula. The Filipino people support the DPRK people’s call for a stop to the economic blockade against their country and for their right to self-determination to be respected (see related article).

The DPRK declared a state of war against the US and South Korea after the US flew two nuclear-capable fighter planes into DPRK air space. Two US warships have likewise been positioned near the Korean Peninsula, its weapons menacingly aimed at the DPRK.

The Filipino people cry out for the abrogation of the MDT. This is not the first time that the Philippines is being dragged into involvement in a US war of aggression against the latter’s enemies, using the MDT.

Under the MDT, Filipino troops were sent to Korea (through the PEFTOK or the Philippine Expedition Force to Korea) and Vietnam (through the Philcag or the Philippine Civic Action Group) to support US wars of intervention and aggression against peoples struggling for democracy and national liberation.

The US military bases in the Philippines were then used by the US as launching pads for its interventionist troops to Korea and Vietnam. The Philippines has also been used as a launching or rest and recreation station for US aggressor troops in Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan. All the US wars of intervention and aggression that have been directly or indirectly supported by the puppet Philippine government have been unjust.

http://www.philippinerevolution.net/statements/20130410_aquino-is-dragging-the-country-into-a-us-war-of-aggression-and-must-be-opposed