Jump On That Gravy Train

lobotero

May 2

The US has stated that it will defend Europe, through NATO, if attacked....now we will fund the Ukraine efforts to expel the Russians....then we will defend South Korea from aggression from the North and Taiwan from any moves by China and now a new 'needy' nation is on the payroll.....the Philippines.

The US has promised to support the nation if problems arise.

President Biden hosted Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at the White House on Monday amid heightened tensions with China and told him that the US commitment to defending the Philippines is "ironclad."

In comments ahead of a meeting with Marcos, Biden said the US "remains ironclad in our commitment to the defense of the Philippines, including the South China Sea, and we're going to continue to support the Philippines' military modernization goals."

Marcos told Biden that the Philippines was located in "arguably the most complicated geopolitical situation in the world right now."

"And so, it is only natural that — for the Philippines to look to its sole treaty partner in the world to strengthen and to redefine the relationship that we have and the roles that we play in the face of those rising tensions that we see now around the South China Sea and Asia-Pacific and Indo-Pacific regions," the Philippine leader added.

...

Biden and Marcos agreed to take other steps to strengthen the military alliance. According to the White House, the US will transfer military equipment to the Philippines' armed forces, including "two Island-class patrol vessels, two Protector-class patrol vessels, and three C-130H aircraft."

According to the White House, Biden underscored that "an armed attack in the Pacific, which includes the South China Sea, on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft, including those of the Coast Guard, would invoke US mutual defense commitments under Article IV of the 1951 US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty."

The White House said the two countries have also adopted "Bilateral Defense Guidelines that institutionalize key bilateral priorities, mechanisms, and processes to deepen alliance cooperation and interoperability across land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace."

(antiwar.com)