By Manuel Mogato & Steve Holland
Reuters (11/12/17)
MANILA (Reuters) – Leaders of Asian nations meeting in Manila on Monday skirted around the mass exodus of Rohingya Muslims triggered by Myanmar’s military crackdown, disappointing human rights groups who were hoping for a tough stand on the humanitarian crisis.
There was no pressure either from U.S. President Donald Trump over the Philippines’ bloody war on drugs during a meeting on the sidelines of the summit with President Rodrigo Duterte.
Trump told reporters that he had a “great relationship” with Philippines leader, who, a year ago, had branded then-President Barack Obama “a son of a bitch” for questioning his ruthless campaign.
Duterte crooned hit Filipino love song “Ikaw” (You) at a gala dinner in Manila, saying it was on “the orders” of Trump. One of the song’s verses begins: “You are the light in my world, a half of this heart of mine”.
“They really hit it off,” Duterte’s Communications Secretary Martin Andanar told reporters after the meeting with Trump.
A draft of the statement to be issued after a meeting of Southeast Asian leaders made no mention of the flight of Rohingya from military operations in Myanmar’s Rakhine state that the United Nations has described as ethnic cleansing.
One paragraph mentioned fleetingly the importance of humanitarian relief for “affected communities” in Rakhine state.
The statement was drawn up by the Philippines, current chair of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which includes Myanmar.
It did not use the term Rohingya for the persecuted Muslim minority, which Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has asked foreign leaders to avoid. The government in mostly-Buddhist Myanmar regards the Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and does not recognize the term.
Over 600,000 Rohingya have fled to refugee camps in Bangladesh since military clearance operations were launched in response to attacks by Rohingya militants on Aug. 25.
The plight of the Rohingya has brought outrage from around the world and there have been calls for democracy champion Suu Kyi to be stripped of the Nobel peace prize she won in 1991 because she has not condemned the military’s actions. …
Read the Rest and 11-Minute Video
- Autocrat Rodrigo Duterte Calls Justin Trudeau’s Questions About Bloody War On Drugs An ‘insult’- The Philippines president, Rodrigo Duterte, attacked Canada’s Justin Trudeau at the end of a summit of Asian and western nations for raising questions about his war on drugs, a topic skirted by other leaders, including Donald Trump. At the traditional news conference by the host nation at the end of the summit on Tuesday, Duterte was asked how he had responded to the Canadian prime minister raising the issue of human rights and extrajudicial killings in his anti-drugs drive. “I said I will not explain. It is a personal and official insult,” the Philippinespresident said in the course of a rambling answer, although he did not refer to Trudeau by name. “I only answer to the Filipino. I will not answer to any other bullshit, especially foreigners. Lay off.”… Read the Rest
(Commoner Call cartoon by Mark L. Taylor, 2017. Open source and free to use with link to www.thecommonercall.org )
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Billionaire Begger: Trump Begged Vietnam To Buy US Military Weaponry Because He Needed ‘quick wins’ For Re-Election
By Brad Reed
The Raw Story (11/14/17)
President Donald Trump reportedly begged the Vietnamese government to buy American military equipment because he needed “quick wins” ahead of upcoming elections.
Sources tell Bloomberg that Trump grilled Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc about why his country wasn’t spending more money buying American weapons.
“He needed quick wins, he told his team in the room, because he’d be running for re-election before anyone realized,” Bloomberg reports. “And weapons sales, in Trump’s view, are good for his approval ratings.”
Trump apparently spent much of his trip hawking American weapons to other countries, as he sought to emulate the early success he had in cutting a massive weapons deal with Saudi Arabia earlier this year.
“Trump rarely set down in a country without pointing out that buying a few F-18s would go a long way toward winning his heart,” Bloomberg writes. “But he’ll return home to Washington without having secured a major new order for American defense contractors.”
Bloomberg’s sources also say that Trump disappointed many American allies in Asia during his trip by showing an unwillingness to embrace a long-term strategy for the United States’ relationship with the region. …
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Trump Author: President Donald Trump Deeply Would Like To Be A Dictator Triggering WW III
MSNBC (11/14/17)
Tony Schwartz co-wrote “The Art of the Deal” with Donald Trump and he thinks the thought of starting World War III excites Trump. Schwartz also contributed to the new book, “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump.” He joins Joy Reid to discuss the mental stability of the President.