Richardcyoung.com

The Online Home of Author and Investor, Dick Young

  • Home
  • How We Are Different
  • About Us
    • Foundation Principles
    • Contributors
  • Investing
    • You’ve Read The Last Issue of Intelligence Report, Now What?
  • Your Survival Guy
  • The Great Reset
  • COVID-19
  • My Rifles
  • Dividends and Compounding
  • Your Security
  • The Swiss Way
  • Dick Young
  • Debbie Young
  • Key West
  • Paris
  • Dick’s R&B Top 100
  • Liberty & Freedom Map
  • Bank Credit & Money
  • Your Survival Guy’s Super States
  • NNT & Cholesterol
  • Work to Make Money/Invest to Save Money
  • Your Health
  • Ron Paul
  • US Treasury Yield Curve

Trump Should Seize this Opportunity to Exit the Philippines

February 18, 2020 By Richard C. Young

U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo participates in a bilateral meeting with President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte in Manila, Philippines on February 28, 2019. [State Department photo by Ron Przysucha/ Public Domain]

At his blog, Buchanan.org, Pat Buchanan suggests that President Trump seize the opportunity to leave the Philippines offered by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to terminate the Visiting Forces Agreement the country has with the United States. He writes (abridged):

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has just given us notice he will be terminating the Visiting Forces Agreement that governs U.S. military personnel in the islands.

His notification starts the clock running on a six-month deadline. If no new agreement is negotiated, the VFA is dissolved.

The Pentagon is shaken. If there is no VFA, how do we continue to move forces in and out to guarantee our ability to honor the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty? Defense Secretary Mark Esper called Duterte’s action “a step in the wrong direction.”

President Donald Trump openly disagreed: “If they would like to do that, that’s fine. We’ll save a lot of money.”

The Philippine Islands are among the largest recipients of foreign aid in East Asia, and we’ve provided $1.3 billion in military assistance over the last two decades. But money shouldn’t be the largest consideration here.

Trump has been given a historic opportunity to reshape U.S. and Asia policy along the lines he ran on in 2016.

He should tell Duterte that we accept his decision and that we, too, are giving notice of our decision to let the 1951 treaty lapse. And following expiration of that treaty, the U.S. will be absolved of any legal obligation to come to the defense of the Philippines.

There is no U.S. vital interest at risk in these islands to justify an eternal war guarantee.

Trump should seize this opportunity to tell Duterte that when the VFA, which guarantees immunity for U.S. forces in the Philippines, is dissolved, the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty is dissolved.

A message would be sent to Asia, and the world, that Trump was serious when he said that he intends to revisit and review all the defense alliances and war guarantees entered into 60 and 70 years ago.

If you’re willing to fight for Main Street America, click here to sign up for my free weekly email.

Related Posts

  • Trump and Manchin Seize the Populist Middle
  • The Trump-Putin Meeting–a Missed Opportunity for Trump?
  • Trump Must Fight to Exit Syria
  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Richard C. Young
Richard C. Young is the editor of Young's World Money Forecast, and a contributing editor to both Richardcyoung.com and Youngresearch.com.
Latest posts by Richard C. Young (see all)
  • Republicans Acquiesce to Democrats’ Abuses of Power - August 10, 2022
  • Pelosi’s Trip a “Pointless Gesture That Brought Us Closer to Military Conflict” - August 9, 2022
  • Who Benefits from and Orchestrated the Trump Raid? - August 9, 2022

Dick Young’s Must Reads

  • The Common Ground of Democracy is Sinking Beneath Americans’ Feet
  • Conflict Between Democratic Sovereignty and Transnational Progressivism (Globalism)
  • Tucker Carlson Interviews My Favorite Florida Farmer
  • Your Survival Guy’s 2022 Super States: #1 New Hampshire
  • Stunned Democrats Against “Defund Police”
  • My Key West Garden Office
  • You Want the Limo, Not the Public Bus
  • The Armed American Family: Part I
  • Your Sheriff Can Thwart Federal Gun Control Efforts
  • You’ve Read The Last Issue of Intelligence Report, Now What?

Our Most Popular Posts

  • Who Benefits from and Orchestrated the Trump Raid?
  • The Higher Taxes, Bigger IRS, and More Inflation Act of 2022
  • Did China Buy Land in North Dakota to Spy on Air Force Base?
  • A Conservative Case for Optimism
  • Your Retirement Life: Let the Slow and Steady Be Your Way of LIFE
  • Pelosi’s Trip a "Pointless Gesture That Brought Us Closer to Military Conflict"
  • DESANTIS RESISTS: Suspends Soros-Funded Destruction of America
  • Kamala Harris Facing the Political Opportunity of a Lifetime
  • Immigrants Poised to FLOOD THE BORDER After Democrats Reject Title 42
  • Who Is Alex Jones?

Disclosure

RSS Youngresearch.com

  • PRIMARY RESULTS: Pro-Trump Candidates Clean Up
  • Prices for Electric Vehicles Going UP
  • Europeans Closing Businesses Early to Save on Energy
  • Your Retirement Life: Let the Slow and Steady Be Your Way of LIFE
  • Resilient Nordic Market Spawns Fast Growing Offshoot
  • If the Phone Doesn’t Ring…It’s Me
  • SHOCK: Home Prices FALL in San Francisco as Market Dries Up
  • Federal Reserve Governor Signals MORE Big Rate Hikes
  • DESANTIS RESISTS: Suspends Soros-Funded Destruction of America
  • Despite All the Money Involved, Crypto Is Still a Wild Market

Republicans Acquiesce to Democrats’ Abuses of Power

The Woke Enforcers

BLUE STATE BLUES: There’s No Way Out of This for Democrats

THE NEWS? Believe Nothing, Trust Nothing, and Question Everything

Russian Invasion of Ukraine Speeds of EU Integration of Eastern European Nations

Victor Davis Hanson: How to Bust DC’s Stronghold

Copyright © 2022 | Terms & Conditions | About Us | Dick Young | Archives