US Defense Sec'y, engaging in double speak!

United States Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel was in Manila three days ago to tell us that Washington had no intention to re-establish permanent US military bases that they once controlled in this motley archipelago. Since we could not trust what our local news reporters may have reported on his visit, I checked with Yahoo News and this is what I got. All the US wants or needs is for the Philippines to allow the US military to store equipment, planes and troops at several key locations in the Philippines in order to offset China's assertiveness in this region. He told the media that the US had similar arrangements with Singapore and Australia.

Now isn't this the art of double speak? If the US military needs to store equipment…what kind of equipment are these? They could be anything from foodstuff, ships, planes, ordnance, tanks, trucks, weapons or ammunition or other logistical stuff? That means they need to secure this stuff…and by this it means fencing the perimeter area which must be guarded by security people. Now isn't that a form of military base? Sure, it may no longer be as permanent as Clark Air Force Base or the Subic Naval Base, but it is still a base that the Americans can construct on Philippine soil.

At this point, I know that there will be some kind of negotiations be-tween the Philippine Government and the United States of America on the Visiting Forces Agreement. But in my book, the US military is allowed to come and visit the Philippines and even conduct joint military exercises with the Armed Forces of the Philippines. But leaving military equipment or logis-tical supplies within Philippine territory under the full control of the US mili-tary falls under the definition of a military base.

Meanwhile, I dare say that it is time for the Philippines to take a second look at our Mutual Defense Treaty with the US. For too long, the Philippines have been considered as America's "Brown Brothers", but that's only in name…when it suits American interests. When they are negotiating with the US military, the Philippine negotiating panel must have the attitude of giving priority to Philippine interest first before looking at US interests.

Lest you already forgot, during the last visit by US Pres. Barrack Ob-ama to China, he even failed to mention the issue of sovereignty between the Philippines and China. We're supposed to be allies with the US…and we ex-pect the US to push for our interest in this kind of territorial dispute. Yet the US President didn't give this issue any importance in their bilateral talks with China. In short, when the US Government had the chance to inform the Chinese where they stood on this issue of sovereignty…they kept silent.

Meanwhile, in the Mideast front, US Pres. Barrack Obama talked about a "Red Line" which he drew that Syria should never cross…which he meant for Syrian President Bashir Assad not to use chemical weapons against his own people. Well, two weeks ago, the Syrian military crossed that Red Line when some 1,429 people were gassed in a Syrian city of which more than 400 of the dead were children. With the Red Line already breached…the world expected the US and its allies to finally attack the Assad Regime. But as of late, the world only heard nothing but rhetoric.

Perhaps Pres. Obama was waiting for its ally Great Britain to coope-rate with the US…but instead, British Prime Minister David Cameron called for a vote authorizing the British military into action in Syria, but Cameron lost that vote in the House of Commons. During Desert Storm, US President George Bush didn't even care to ask the US Congress when he decided to at-tack Iraq…and Congress merely kept quiet while the US won its first major victory since their humiliating loss in the Vietnam War.

Now Pres. Barrack Obama has announced that he would seek the ap-proval of the US Congress to authorize the US military to take action in Syria. But all bets are on that the democratically controlled US Congress would deny the president's request to embarrass the president who is fast turning into a lame duck president. Perhaps they are scared of the warnings of the Iranians that if Syria is bombed…there will be worldwide repercussions from terrorist groups against the hated Americans.

In the meantime, innocent civilians, especially non-combatants, women and children are massacred dailyby the Syrian government. I have no doubt that Pres. Obama is in a very precarious situation. This is not an easy decision to make because it could trigger terrorist reprisals all over the US or worse…it could trigger World War III. But as we all know…if there is no military response to the gassing of the Syrian people by its own govern-ment…then Pres. Assad would continue to do so for his own personal surviv-al. The succeeding weeks will be crucial for world peace.

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