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June 01, 2017 02:15 PM UTC
22 Comments
UPDATE #3: As the Denver Post’s Jesse Paul 
What the fuck, Cory? Coddling murderous dictators now?
"He may be a murderer, but at least he's not a paid protester!"
Anybody else geting no audio on the video?
There is no audio of the meeting between Gardner and Duterte. I guess that's what the briefing notes are about?
Is this normal? Nothing in Trump world is "normal", but would it be usual practice to send a committee Senator, not the Secretary of State or ambassador, on a visit like this? Is Cory angling for a wider role in Trump administration?
What are the national security interests served by closer ties to Duterte's regime? We do still have bases in the Phillipines, and there is a deal to upgrade them. Is this posturing for a show of US military strength in Asia?
Maybe he is angling for a new job. If Conman Cory goes to the Sad-ministration, at least Hick gets to choose a replacement until Nov. '18. I'm pretty sure he can find a Democrat to hold the seat. So, Bye-bye Cory! Hope he can duck when the shaving cream heads toward the fan.
SHAMEFUL and SHAMELESS.
Despite Senate traditions that he respects so faithfully, and unnecessarily, even as Republicans have shit on them throughout his tenure, Bennet should call him out.
Gardner's birth year proves my theory that America has raised 1 generation, maybe 2, of complete idiots.
I want to see the briefing notes and / or the follow-on memo from the conversation.
Somehow, I doubt Sen. Gardner brought up human rights or directly addressed the current Philippine campaign of murder against users and small time dealers.
The briefing notes and associated documents from Trump and Gardner's phone calls (including the phone transcript of the Trump-Duterte call) are available here on the document cloud which Cyberscoop published.
So there are, in my opinion, legitimate national security interests to be served by making nice with Duterte, even though Duterte's a murderous dictator. Obama did the right thing and used diplomacy to be hostile towards Duterte; this was reciprocated by Duterte, who famously told Obama to "Go to hell", and defamed Obama's mother as a whore.
On the other hand, Duterte is simpatico with Trump now. Before the election, Duterte called Trump a bigot; after the election, he thought that he and Trump had "cursing" in common.
Russia, China, and the US are all jockeying for dominance in the south China sea – with trade agreements and military presence. China is actually building itself an island there. Vietnam doesn't care for the Russia or China dominance scenario, and may actually prefer a closer Phillipines and US relationship.
If you read Gardner's briefing notes, there's a lot of trade information there which I don't fully understand. It looks as though the US imports circuits from the Phillipines, and that we export finished products such as furniture to them. They're also still a prime resort destination, including for child sex tourism.
Neither the human rights abuses, nor the child sex trafficking, were apparently topics in the Gardner / Duterte briefing. They talked about China, North Korea, and trade.
Trump has a branded resort in Manila, the Trump Tower Phillipines, in Century City. The resort's CEO, Mr. Jose Antonio, is a business partner of Trump's , and also a special envoy from the Phillipines to the US. So there's a strong conflict of interest there – giving some clues as to why El Trumpito is so very interested in the Phillipines.
Bottom line for me is that Gardner has no diplomatic nor espionage experience, and is likely in way over his head. This rapprochement, if that is what it is, needs to be done by someone who comprehends all of the complications to the situation.
The follow-on statement says
"Instead of engaging in press release diplomacy, Senator Gardner wanted to discuss face to face with President Duterte the importance to adhering to the rule of law."
Duterte claims the anti-drug campaign IS lawful. So was there a statement that the Senator did not, that on-going murder campaigns were wrong, even if the victims were primarily drug users and sellers?
Seems like a stretch here . . .
. . . a trip to the Phillipines and Korea is hardly a pleasure junket . . .
. . . no verifiable record of what was, or wasn't, said . . .
. . . I guess if you're of the unbending opinion that our political leaders should never interact with another country's proven nutball leader, then you're also of the opinion that no semi-same politician from another country should be having any interaction with our Drumpfenutball???
Did he get a one-week layover (or is it lei over) in Hawaii on his way home?
Wouldn't you?
. . . still, he could've gotten that same layover with a "fact-finding" excursion to investigate coral bleaching in Fiji.
BREAKING: There is a gun battle and explosions in two casinos in Pasay City in the Phillipines right now. The area has been under martial law since May 23, supposedly because of ISIS militants. . Per CNN
Per Time, this battle in Marawi, on Mindanao island in the Phillipines, has been going on for a week. I don’t remember seeing any news coverage of it.
Duterte has “joked” about martial law allowing his soldiers to kill and rape with impunity.
Here's hoping it isn't one of Drumpf's casinos. That could be casis belli.
It's not one of Trumpf's casinos, but the Trump tower in Century City, Makati, is only 20 minutes (~9km) away from the beseiged "Resorts World" casinos in Pasay City. Per Google Maps.
error: I originally wrote that these cities were on Mindanao island, the martial law area. That’s incorrect – these cities are on the main island, about half an hour away from the capital city of Manila. However, Duterte has floated the idea of extending martial law to the entire country.
https://www.theatlantic.com/news/archive/2017/05/dutertes-call-for-martial-law/527973/
Has this been on the news? The Phillipines is only 5200 miles from Honolulu, Hawaii.
There are conflicting reports about the tragedy in the Resorts World Hotel in the Phillipines.. There is a high body count – 36 dead, mostly from smoke inhalation. That's coming from the BBC. Trump claimed in his Paris Accord speech that the Manila attack was by a terrorist. ISIS claimed the attack as one of its own. NBC news covered the Prez tweet storm and has some details on the attack.
The officials on the scene said it was one lone gunman of unknown ethnicity, carrying an assault rifle, apparently intent on robbery since he filled up a bag with casino chips, possibly mentally unstable since he set tables on fire, then set himself on fire and shot himself.
So it's a tragedy, becoming another ordinary mass murder tragedy, but in the middle of a volatile situation, our president jumped to conclusions and called it a terrorist incident. The southern part of the Phillipines remains under martial law, with government troops given explicit permission to rape and kill, and our de facto envoy is Colorado's junior Senator. Have I covered everything?
Typical over-reaction from Progress Now. Last time I checked, the Philippines is still a US ally, regardless of how one might feel about their president. Myself, I'm not an admirer of Mr. Duterte or his methods. But the country remains allied to the US and as noted, is fighting Islamic separatists again in the south. As an aside, this simmering war has gone on for decades.
Comment: "Gardner has no diplomatic or espionage experience." How is this known for sure? Why would a US Senator be spying on an ally? Makes no sense. And this is hardly the first time a member of Congress has gone on trips with diplomatic overtones. Gardner may have his issues; not holding any in-person constituent meetings is one of my concerns. But meeting a democratically elected President Duterte should not be one of those issues.
Gardner does not have diplomatic experience. Here's his bio. I don't necessarily disagree with what he's doing on the Senate Foreign Relations East Asia Subcommittee. His Maritime legislation would at least clarify US policy and warn China against militarizing its own artificially built island in the middle of the ocean.
This still seems to me to be an incredibly sensitive time and state in the Phillipines right now. Way too sensitive for amateurs. We need real diplomats there. Russia, China, the US and the ASEAN nations are all jockeying for power in the region. As far as whether espionage is needed, I obviously wouldn't know; but there are five military bases in the Phillipines, so my guess is that there are spies around, and if he is talking with Duterte, he should be being briefed / debriefed, rather than having hackers just expose it all online for amateurs like us to pore over.
ISIS blowing hotels up in the middle of the country, 9 kilometers away from a Trump-branded resort. The southern part of the country under martial law, and Duterte poised to extend it further now that ISIS is striking close to the capitol. .
We know that Cory is fully capable of talking for hours and saying absolutely nothing. So perhaps he won't do any harm as a stand-in diplomat. Just maybe, Cory is better informed on Asian – pacific issues from his committee work, than is the actual Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson. We know that Trump gutted the offices at the Dept. of State. Maybe there aren't any junior diplomats to send. And that's another terrifying thought. What if Cory's the best we've got?
It's just a continuation of the Trump Amateur Hour. Gut the department, negotiate by the seat of your pants, go with a "feeling"….or your own financial interests. Doesn't inspire confidence in our foreign policy negotiators – sorry.
MJ — I think you nailed it. Jared's portfolio includes Asia, but he's laying low, not that he would be any better or experienced than Gardner. Truly sad state of affairs.
It'll take at least 2 election cycles to see if we can turn the ship of state around, otherwise the SS Trumptanic is headed directly over the edge of the earth.
When questioned, Senator Spokesmodel proudly proclaims being pro-life. He might wax rhapsodic about the right to life and the guarantees of the Constitution. How then can he shake the hand of a proud extrajudicial murderer? Constitutional conservative or fascist bootlicker? He does fill out a suit, though.
UPDATE: Cory's Duterte – pals mission was all for naught. Duterte says he won't even visit the US anymore, because it's a "lousy country".
And, Duterte is extending martial law in the Phillipines and “negotiating” with China on the Spratly artificial islands. He’s not supposed to negotiate, because of the economic zone the islands are in. It’s a volatile mess.
http://videos.inquirer.net/?tracked=true&categoryID=all&videoid=971560&video_title=duterte_tells_protestersnbsp_i_will_deliver_on_promises&pfrm=template