eastwind journals

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eastwind journals15 Feb 2012 07:12 am

eastwind journals 20 – OCCUPY WALL STREET, OCCUPY SPRATLEYS

eastwind journals 20

eastwind journals are the personal journalistic writings of Bernie Lopez, and are not part of the healing ministry. Any views or comments are his own and does not reflect those of the ministry.

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OCCUPY WALL STREET, OCCUPY SPRATLEY

By Bernie Lopez
eastwind journals
Opinyon Magazine, Feb 20 2012

 

The plan of Noynoy to pit Americans against Chinese in the Spratleys is a dangerous move. This small nation may be embroiled and sandwiched in a huge battle of giants. In return, we get a few puny second-hand naval vessels and aircrafts from the US as quid pro quo for their military presence in Mindanao in terms of a port for warships, a place for troops, and a station for deadly drones. The Chinese can easily crush these used armaments in the Spratleys. What Noynoy really has in mind is to let America do the fighting for us, as we stand by and watch the conflagaration. This a bad geopolitical strategy.

The best geopolitical move in the Spratelys is to “occupy” like in Wall Street. The more Filipinos are in the Spratleys as fishermen and farmers, the more we establish a presence, which is not necessarily military.

continued

Taiwan is ahead of the Philippines. As we play footsie with the two giants, being polite to both so as not to intimidate, Taiwan has occupied Taiping, the largest island in the Spratley chain, since 2006, putting up a 1,150-meter runway. This is the infrastructure to either a military base or an oil rig or both. Taiwan will soon put up a “tactical navigation system” to help guide flights to its runway. This means they can rapidly occupy Taiping with personnel for military or oil exploration purposes.

The Philippines should build an airport on one of the islands it occupies, to fuel rapid migration, and not depend on long sea voyages to sustain a Filipino population there. A regular flight biweekly, increasing to weekly will be possible once there is critical mass. Once we ‘occupy’, we ‘own’ the place in that it will not be so easy for others to simply drive the Filipinos out or even attempt to wipe them out.

We lack capital and technology to do exploration, unlike the Taiwanese or Koreans. Filipinos mostly want trickle down benefits, as landowner charging rent and laborers with minimum wage rather than as oil extractors. The giants can do the exploring and extracting, and build armies to secure the rigs. It is a good plan to be simply landlords, to simply ‘occupy’ peacefully, no arms, no warships, just plows and fishnets.

We are too slow and lack strategic planning. The way its going, all of them will ‘occupy’ before we do, and we are left with nothing but cheap labor supply. Whoever wins in a conflict in the Spratley, Americans or Chinese, or whoever strikes oil first will leave us with little. I am calling on Noynoy to stop escalating superpower arms in the Spratelys, and just trigger rapid migration.

redgate77@gmail.com

 

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eastwind journals15 Feb 2012 07:06 am

eastwind journals 19 – NO TO DRONES IN MINDANAO!!

eastwind journals 19

 

eastwind journals are the personal journalistic writings of Bernie Lopez, and are not part of the healing ministry. Any views or comments are his own and does not reflect those of the ministry.

 

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NO TO DRONES IN MINDANAO!!

 

By Bernie Lopez
eastwind journals
Opinyon Magazine, Feb 20 2012

 

This is an open letter to President Aquino about the dangers of deadly unmanned Predator drones that the Americans are now using in Mindanao in violation of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and without the consent of Congress. It is possible that President Aquino was not consulted by the Americans and learned about the killing of 3 rebels by drones only from news reports.

 

Unmanned drones are considered by international human rights organizations as a weapon of mass destruction (WMD) because of their track record of high civilian casualties in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Yes they kill Al Queda operatives, but they also kill civilians. Afghanistan and Pakistan governments protest against the Americans that this violates their sovereignty and jurisdiction. The Americans simply ignore these and do it all over again in defiance and disrespect of the host countries. Those who invaded Iraq because of WMDs are using WMDs themselves.

 

They will do the same in Mindanao and defy our sovereignty. The Americans feel we are easier to manipulate than the Arabs. Just give a few threats of loss of loans or denied second-hand weapons as sweeteners, and Noynoy buckles down. The US can say, “Or else no Spratley toys for you.”

 

A lot of diplomatic activities are emerging currently. Obama has a new geopolitical initiative to focus on the soaring economies of the Asia Pacific, now that the EU is on a dive. Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario announced high level talks next month for expanding military presence here. Part of the agenda would be a port for American warships and the use of deadly drones. They do not mention American troops but they do this clandestinely anyway. US Defense Secretary Leon Panella wants these agenda ironed out before the meeting. That is the American side. On the Filipino side, a possible quid pro quo are armaments for the Philippine navy for Spratleys, which Noynoy says are “nothing of an offensive capability”. (Inquirer, Feb. 7, 2012).

 

US Assistant Secretary of State for Political and Military Affairs Andrew Shapiro is scheduled to visit this month. Why are they sending soldiers and not businessmen? Strangely, Obama’s initiatives in the Asia Pacific are more military than economic. The Americans are putting up a new base in Australia. They want the VFA amended because they want renewed presence in Mindanao, extremely strategic to ‘encircling’ the enemy China. VFA amendment, however, needs Senate approval and maybe Constitutional amendments, two big hurdles.

 

Drones are also a violation of the VFA. Grabiela Party list Rep. Luz Ilagan wants an investigation of reports on the use of Predator drones by the Philippine military in Mindanao in relation to the killing of three leaders of the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah. If they were indeed Abu Sayyaf members, such an act will encourage them to do it again, until they start killing civilians instead of rebels as they did in the Middle East. Reports attribute drone operations to the Philippine Air Force, but such a high-security and high-technical task can be executed only by American soldiers.

 

There are also news reports of covert operations by American troops in Mindanao, again, in violation of the VFA. Are the crew-cut Americans in a beach resort owned by Rudy Rivera in Saranggani in reality soldiers? Ilagan cited the massacre of eight civilians in Ipil, Maimbung, Sulu with the possible direct participation of US troops.

 

redgate77@gmail.com

 

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eastwind journals14 Jan 2012 01:27 am

prayer 73 – MESSAGE FROM THE NAZARENE

MESSAGE FROM THE NAZARENE
 
A day before the Black Nazarene procession in Quiapo, the President warned of bomb threats. Observers predicted that only a few would dare join the procession. It was the complete opposite. Never in the history of the Black Nazarene was there an ocean of devotees in the millions. It was also the longest procession, 22 hours from dawn to dawn, 9 hours longer than the usual. All four wheels of the carrosa broke down one by one. Ironically it stopped for a long time right at the heart of the Muslim enclave, an omen perhaps of the bond among common Muslims and Christians. People slept on the pavement, waiting for the Image to pass their street. When the local government wanted to make a short cut due to the delay, residents came out in droves to protest. Security forces suppressed cellphone signal to and from the Quiapo area, but there were no bombs.

 

There are two messages in this historic affair, one from the Nazarene, and the other from the Filipino devotees. The message from the devotees is a simple prayer, “We will never abandon you, Lord, Even amid the greatest trials You send us, we will always endure.” And the message from the Lord in return is just as simple, “I will never abandon you because you have not abandoned Me. I am the ocean, you are the rivers. Flow into Me as I flow back into you as rain that nourishes your fields. I am the vine. You are the branches. Abide in Me as I in you.”

 

Bernie Lopez redgate77@gmail.com

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eastwind journals14 Jan 2012 01:16 am

eastwind journals 18 – INVADING IRAN the chicken and egg situation

eastwind journals 18
 
eastwind journals are the personal journalistic writings of Bernie Lopez, and are not part of the healing ministry. Any views or comments are his own and does not reflect those of the ministry.
 
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INVADING IRAN
The chicken and egg situation
 
The US unprecedented brinkmanship in the Middle East may be the final ingredient for the road to World War III. It is bent on forcing Iran to give up its peaceful nuclear program on mere suspicion of having nuclear weapons facilities. The IAEA, over which the US has a lot of influence, has reported not evidence but suspicions of nuclear weapons facilities, triggering false alarms that have led Israel, the US itself, and Iran to go on a warfooting amid exchanges of threats. Is Obama in fact looking for an excuse to invade Iran just as Bush did in Iraq on false charges of WMDs?

 

The standoff at the Straits of Hormuz is a chicken and egg situation. The US will not allow Iran to close the Straits, considering it an act of war. Iran will not allow US carriers in the Straits, threatening to attack the carrier if they do. US arrogance is not used to backing off in a confrontation, even if it is not within its territory, even if it is at fault. Iran is not going to backdown in its own backyard. Are we in the lull before the storm?

 

The gnawing question at present is – is the US provoking Iran into a war, with new rounds of sanctions inhibiting other nations to do business with Iran’s Central Bank? In reaction, Russia and Iran are dropping the US dollar and opting for their own currencies in their trade activities. The economic sanction can in fact boomerang, forcing Iran to sell oil and gas to the East rather than to the West. The US is actually imposing sanctions on itself, denying itself of precious energy at a time of declining sources. It is a form of energy suicide for the US and EU who need energy now more than ever, especially in the long harsher winters due to climate change. This will force the US to turn to military rather than diplomatic options in its despair for energy. The economic sanction can also be the beginning of more nations, to begin to abandon the dollar, especially in the Middle East.

 

Forty percent of global oil supplies pass through Hormuz. Its closure will dramatically affect global oil supply. As a result of the US sanctions, global oil prices have in fact started to climb up. The US cannot afford to have Hormuz closed. So if Iran does, it will be forced to invade Iran to open it up.

 

If this is the real purpose of the US, namely, to play provocateur, is this type of brinkmanship a product of the dominance of the hawks in both the Pentagon and the White House, which reflects the overconfidence of the superpower that it can prevail in any war? Who decides to make war? If it is not the American people, is it then those who run it, namely the Jewish-nominated banking and finance sector and the trigger-happy Pentagon? Yet, the US is not sure it can avoid the sinking of its Fifth Fleet in Iranian waters with the new type of Russian missiles Iran has. US brinkmanship is in truth illogical and dangerous.

 

The war games Iran has recently launched in the Persian Gulf are actually a psyche-war message that it will not back down in a confrontation with the US, and is strong enough to defend itself. The war games are intimidating the US further into a confrontation. In reaction, the US is amassing forces and weapons in Israel for a showdown. They are planning their own war games in reply to Iran’s. We are entering phase 2 of a possible Middle East war.

 

The US spent a whopping $1 trillion in the Iraq war, and a new war with the stronger Iran is predicted to double or even triple that expense. The US will overstretch its deficit spending that can be the last straw in a total implosion of the American economy. Ironically, Obama announced recently it will reduce by half a trillion dollars in ten years its defense spending. How can he say that, at the same time threaten to invade Iran? Obama says the US will stay away from ground troops and expensive protracted guerrilla wars, and will concentrate on air and naval power. Nobody wins without ground troops. To simply bomb Iran from air and sea and not use ground troops simply means a lot of Iranian civilian casualties but no occupation. It is in truth a form of genocide, which is cheaper and less casualties for America than a protracted occupation. America should procure energy by peaceful means, not by force.

 

A new factor will actually be in favor of Iran, namely, the new rearmament programs of Russia and China in the last ten years, who are implicity trade and energy partners of Iran. The shift of Communism towards Capitalism has left these two giants richer by far. And they are rapidly developing their armaments for a future confrontation with the US. China has built a Mach 10 missile that can take out US carriers anywhere in the world. The US has no known defense system against this lightning speed missile. As soon as you see them on radar, they are already in front of your nose. China has also built a stealth aircraft larger than that of the US, with longer range and more weapons in its belly. Iran is the beneficiary of arms from Russia and China, in case of a US invasion of Iran.

 

As for Russia, it has recently appropriated a staggering $640 billion for a massive ten-year rearmament program. Unlike China, Russia purchases rather than builds its own weaponry. It plans to buy armaments from France, Italy, and Israel. It especially is drooling over Israel’s unmanned drones, the weapon of the future.

 

So the big question is – will the US finally find the excuse to invade Iran as it did in Iraq? Such a war will polarize forces for and against the US towards World War III. World Wars I and II began with such polarizations. China and Russia will not sit idle in an invasion of Iran, and the US knows this, and is the single greatest factor in its hesitancy to invade. Many observers say the US will back down because there is just too many risks and unknowns in such a war with a foe so much stronger than Iraq, that is, if the kick-ass culture does not prevail in the White House. It is also possible that, in such a war, Iraq may side with Iran to protect the Islamic realm in the Middle East. The invasion of Iran will polarize the Islamic world.

 

Bernie Lopez
‘eastwind journals’
Opinyon Magazine, Jan 16, 2012
redgate77@gmail.com
 

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