President Barack Obama said a new military pact signed with the Philippines yesterday granting a larger presence for U.S. forces would bolster the Southeast Asian country’s maritime security, but was not aimed at countering China’s growing military might. The agreement, which will have an initial 10-year term, was touted as the highlight of Obama’s first visit to the Philippines, the United States’ oldest ally in the region. It sets the framework for a beefed-up rotation of U.S. troops, ships and warplanes through the Philippines, part of a rebalancing of U.S. resources towards fast-growing Asia and the Pacific. But China interprets the move as an attempt to contain its increasing military capability and embolden Manila in a decades-long territorial dispute with Beijing. “The goal for this agreement is to build Philippine capacity to engage in training, engage in coordination, not simply to deal with issues of maritime security, but also to enhance our capabilities so that if there is a natural disaster that takes place we can respond quickly,” Obama told a joint news conference in Manila after talks with President Benigno Aquino. “Our goal is not to counter China, our goal is not to contain China. Our goal is to make sure that international rules and norms are respected, and that includes the area of maritime disputes.” He reiterated Washington’s support for Manila’s move to seek international arbitration over conflicting territorial claims in the South China Sea, an important shipping route that is believed to be rich in energy resources. The Philippines is the last stop on a week-long tour of Asia partly aimed at reassuring U.S. allies that Washington remains committed to its strategic “pivot” to the region. Obama said all four countries he has visited, including Japan, which has its own dispute with China over tiny islands in the East China Sea, were committed to seeking a peaceful resolution of territorial issues. China claims about 90 percent of the South China Sea, a claim that overlaps with those of the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan. China has rejected international arbitration, preferring a bilateral route to solving the jurisdictional disputes. Rising regional tensions were highlighted by a commentary from China’s state news agency Xinhua criticizing the pact. “Given that the Philippines is at a bitter territorial row with China, the move is particularly disturbing as it may embolden Manila in dealing with Beijing,” the commentary said. “A more assertive or even reckless Manila would stoke regional tensions and in turn upset Obama’s policy of rebalancing.” Aquino said China “shouldn’t be concerned” about the new agreement, which is aimed at increasing joint military training, especially for disaster relief operations. The United States and the Philippines will hold joint exercises next week in areas mostly north of the capital. “We are not a threat militarily to any country, we don’t even have … presently a single fighter aircraft in our inventory,” Aquino said, adding his country had “legitimate needs” to protect its 36,000 km (22,370 miles) coastline. The United States was not seeking to rebuild old military bases or construct new ones under the agreement, said Obama, who was greeted with a 21-gun salute upon his arrival at the presidential palace in the former U.S. colony. Dozens of anti-U.S. protesters shouted slogans and waved banners to protest against his visit outside the palace. The United States had maintained two military bases northwest of Manila, including Subic Bay, which was once its biggest overseas naval base, until the Philippine Senate ordered U.S. troops to leave in 1991.
Tag: Barack Obama
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How not to play politics
In May 2013 when a US state under the control of the Republican Party was hit by deadly tornado, politics of division and exclusiveness was shoved aside by the stakeholders to bring succour to the people who had been bereaved, injured and rendered homeless. Democratic Party President Barack Obama who was far away from the scene promptly ordered massive federal support.
A president who is often embroiled in a struggle with the Republicans over their disdain for expansive federal agencies, Obama nevertheless went to Oklahoma State under the Republican Governor Mary Fallin, who only the year before described the Obama administration as pursuing “failed policies”.
She declared: “In Oklahoma, we could teach Washington a lesson or two about fiscal policy and the size and the proper role of government,” adding that the Democrats were having a record of “dysfunction and outrageous spending”.
But that was all politics, unfit for realistic governance in the face of a situation that required the two politicians to govern and not to play politics at the expense of the welfare of the people. To be sure, they did eventually come together as two statesmen elected not to massage their egos but to submit themselves to service to the people.
That I think was the point the ex-governor of Abia State Dr Orji Uzor Kalu was making the other day when he called on Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State in Ibadan. Noticing the monumental progress that Oyo State has witnessed under the administration of Ajimobi since his advent in 2011, Kalu warned the politicians in the area not to allow divisive politics to rubbish these great advances.
He commended Governor Ajimobi’s administration for its developmental strides across the state adding, “I am convinced that you (Ajimobi) have done very well and I give a very high mark. I have been in Ibadan before and I can see the development that has taken place. We have seen a lot of change… If Governor Ajimobi wins (again) in future election, he should be supported.”
It is clear that what the ex-governor of Abia is preaching has to do with doctrine of how not to play barren politics with governance. But for politics not to be barren and make nonsense of the mandate of the electorate, the interest of the society must be reckoned with. So, if there is a performing government in place as it is with the Ajimobi administration in Kalu’s well considered verdict, all of society in Oyo State should rally around the governor in support and loyalty, regardless of party affiliation.
Right-thinking Nigerians would find it easy to align with Kalu’s position, since he pins it on the need to “ensure the enthronement of an egalitarian society and ensure development” as he put it when he spoke with Governor Ajimobi. In other words if the citizens of Oyo state truly want a progressive and stable environment the ball is in their court to cooperate with their governor and his administration. They should seek to constitutionally perpetuate a system that is fostering peace, progress and development and refuse to be swayed by ethnicity and divisive politics. Truly, Oyo State has seen breathless changes lately. This development is assuming a spirit that is taking the citizens where they ought to be rather than where the poverty and visionless path of the past was herding them. There is no partisanship in the delivery of the good things of life to the people. It would patently be unpatriotic for politicians to confuse the people about politicking and governance. The former is manipulative, blinding the masses with the idea of government as exclusive political machinery aloof from the people. But the latter is the collective administration of society that seeks the welfare of the people who put the representative government in power.
We must draw the line and let the people know that real test for a public office holder lies in performance not in his ability to play politics. In Oyo State, the people are recognizing for the first time in more that decade that if you have a disciplined and a forward-looking administration, it can be trusted with the taxpayers money to initiate projects that benefit the larger society and not a few.
Today the citizens of the state are wondering where the funds came from for the construction of new roads, the rehabilitation of long abandoned water works, the provision of brand new buses for free transportation of workers and student, the cleanup of Ibadan, the prompt payment of workers and retired civil servants’ entitlements etc. The money was always there; it was only waiting for a good husbandman with a disciplined profile.
• Olaopa is a retired civil servant in Saki, Oyo State.
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Lessons from America
Tragedy. That seven-letter word knows no boundary. It strikes anywhere. And everywhere. In this age of suicide bombing, stopping tragedy outright seems impossible. What matters is how leaders handle it.
President Barack Obama can dance. He has shown on a number of occasions that he knows how to move his body to good music. But he knows the right time to dance. You will not likely find him dancing at a political rally a day after a major tragedy.
Like Nigeria, the United States has had its fair share of tragedies. The one that easily comes to mind is the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon in 2001. The twin attacks are now known as the 9/11 attacks because it happened on September 11.
The magnitude of the attacks was such that the whole world was shocked. But America rose above the shock and ensured almost everyone who died in the attacks were accounted for. Not only that, adequate arrangements were made for their dependants. Also, Osama bin Laden, who masterminded it, was fished out and killed. For years, America went after bin Laden. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) determined the location of bin Laden in a large compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, a suburban area near Islamabad. First the CIA planned to bomb the compound,but Obama rejected this and authorised a “surgical raid” to be conducted by United States Navy SEALs. The operation took place on May 1, 2011, and bin Laden became history. There were spontaneous celebrations around the country. People gathered outside the White House, the Ground Zero and Times Square.
Up till now, America has not closed the books on the disaster, as it is still looking out for those who played one role or the other in it.
From time to time, there are shootings in American schools. One of such was the one on January 16, last year at the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. That incident alone made President Obama sign 23 executive orders and outline a series of sweeping proposals regarding gun control. A month after the incident, Obama urged the Congress to reintroduce an expired ban on military-style assault weapons, such as those used in several recent mass shootings. He also urged them to impose limits on ammunition magazines to 10 rounds, introduce background checks on all gun sales, pass a ban on possession and sale of armour-piercing bullets, and introduce harsher penalties for gun-traffickers.
The Boston Marathon’s bombing, whose first anniversary, was marked some days ago, is another example of excellent disaster management and resolution. In less than a week or so, America was able to fish out those behind it and they have answered for their crime against humanity.
Here almost every crime goes undetected. Leaders also go about their normal activities, including attending parties, at times of tragedies. Not American leaders, who will rather engage in one strategy session or the other to resolve the puzzle around the disaster and also bring the perpetrators to book.
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Obama: pray for Washington’s mudslide victims
President Barack Obama has called on Americans to pray for the victims of a mudslide in the US state of Washington which has claimed at least 14 lives.
Officials say as many as 176 people remain unaccounted for after the 177-ft (54-m) wall of mud hit near the town of Oso, north of Seattle, on Saturday.
Emergency officials said they expected the death toll to rise throughout Tuesday as they comb the debris field.
Search crews have worked day and night, using helicopters and laser imaging.
“The total fatality rate remains at 14 and we’re expecting that number to go up throughout the day,” local fire chief Travis Hots told reporters on Tuesday.
President Obama, speaking during a news conference at a summit in the Netherlands earlier in the day, asked all Americans to send their thoughts and prayers to the victims.
“We know that part of this tightly knit community has been lost,” he said.
“We hope for the best,” he added, “but recognise this is a tough situation.”
He has declared an emergency in Washington state and ordered federal authorities to co-ordinate the disaster relief effort.
Washington Governor Jay Inslee – after surveying the area from the air – said it was “devastation beyond imagination.”
He said the slide “basically cut a mountain in two” and deposited it on the town below. Nothing in the path of the slide was still standing.
“It’s that absolute devastation that causes us all real pain,” he said.
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Boko Haram: North’s governors meet U.S. officials in Washington
•Sect kills two
•Troops kill 8 in Yobe
Governors of some states in the North are in Washington to meet with top United States officials to seek the solution to Boko Haram insurgency.
It could not be ascertained how many of them were already in the United States but Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima and Bauchi State Governor Isa Yuguda who arrived on Sunday took the opportunity of their early arrival to meet with the world’s richest man, Bill Gates, to get support for their states on polio eradication.
They were at the headquarters of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation yesterday for the meeting.
They are expected to meet with White House officials, President Barack Obama, Congresssional leaders, the National Intelligence Council and the European Union (EU) developmental agencies, among others.
In spite of the search for the solution to the Boko Haram insurgency, there is no let to the sect’s brutality. Suspected members of the sect invaded Pela Birni village in Hawul Local Government Area of Borno State, killing two residents before setting ablaze two churches and many residential houses.
Pela Birni is one of the populated and remote village under Kwajjafa District in southern Borno with Christian domination, and about few kilometres drive to Garkida town in Adamawa State.
Witnesses said the gunmen who came to the village on Sunday night bore sophisticated weapons.
Mallam Musa Anjili Pela Birni said he narrowly escaped being killed by the attackers. The house in which he was sleeping was set ablaze.
“The gunmen invaded our village at about 10 pm on Sunday, They started shouting Allahu Akbar (God is great). They ordered residents of houses to vacate then before setting the houses on fire.”
Another resident, who did not want his name in print, told our correspondent that most of the houses near the Church of Brethern were set ablaze. Two people died. Many others were injured.
The gunmen used AK47 rifles, petrol bombs and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).
Troops operating in the Northeast ambushed a group of terrorists on a mission to penetrate and attack Goniri Community in Gujba Local Government Area of Yobe state.
In a statement yesterday in Abuja, Maj.-Gen Chris Olukolade, Director of Defence Information, said: “Troops are still in pursuit of the fleeing terrorist elements after the encounter which resulted in some casualties on both parties.
“Rockets and machine guns were freely used by the terrorists who eventually lost over eight of their fighters with several others wounded.
“ Arms were also captured from the terrorists while others fled.
“ The troops, however, lost a soldier while an officer was seriously wounded in the encounter, ‘’ he said.
Goniri is not far from Buni-Yadi where the terrorists killed pupils.
He said troops, operating around Gamboru Ngala and Dikwa Local Government Area towards the borders of Chad and Cameroun, were busy throughout the weekend.
He said the weapons recovered in one of the locations include four anti-aircraft guns, five machine guns and over 500 rounds of ammunitions.
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Navy Seals take control of rogue Libya oil tanker
The US has taken control of a tanker full of oil loaded from a rebel-held port in Libya, the Pentagon says.
The raid by Navy Seals took place in international waters south of Cyprus, said spokesman Rear Adm John Kirby.
The Morning Glory’s evasion of a naval blockade at the eastern port of Sidra prompted Libya’s parliament to sack Prime Minister Ali Zeidan last week.
The oil terminal has been under the control of militia wanting autonomy for eastern Libya since July 2013.
This was their first attempt to export oil from rebel-held areas. It is not clear where the tanker was headed.
Adm Kirby said the operation had been authorised by President Barack Obama and that no-one had been hurt.
“The Morning Glory is carrying a cargo of oil owned by the Libyan government National Oil Company. The ship and its cargo were illicitly obtained,” he said, adding that it would now be returned to a Libyan port.
The vessel was flagged in North Korea but officials in Pyongyang said it had been deregistered because of the incident.
It was said to have been operated by an Egyptian company.
The BBC’s Rana Jawad in Tripoli says the US move is likely to act as a deterrent to any further attempts to illicitly buy oil from the rebel-controlled ports.
She says that after backing the 2011 rebellion against Muammar Gaddafi, the US does not want Libya to become a failed state.
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EU, US impose sanctions over Crimea
The EU and US have announced travel bans and asset freezes against a number of officials from Russia and Ukraine.
The moves follow Sunday’s referendum in Crimea, in which officials say 97% of voters backed breaking away from Ukraine and joining Russia.
The individuals targeted by the sanctions are seen as having played a key role in the referendum, which Kiev, the US and EU deem illegal.
Pro-Russian forces have been in control of Crimea since late February.
Moscow says the troops are pro-Russian self-defence forces and not under its direct control.
US President Barack Obama said in a press conference that Washington stood “ready to impose further sanctions” depending on whether Russia escalated or de-escalated the situation in Ukraine.
If Moscow continued to intervene in Ukraine, he warned, it would “achieve nothing except to further isolate Russia and diminish its place in the world”.
The EU published a list of sanctions against 21 Russian and Ukrainian officials after a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels. The list includes the acting prime minister of Crimea, the speaker of Crimea’s parliament, three senior Russian commanders and several senior Russian parliamentary officials.
“We regret that Russia has so far not engaged in negotiations with Ukraine,” EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said after the sanctions were announced.
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague told reporters the list was not “set in stone”.
He said this depends on “how Russia reacts to the referendum in Crimea which has been a mockery of any real democracy, and how they are reacting to the possibility of discussions and direct negotiations with Ukraine over the coming days”.
The US said it had targeted seven top Russian government officials and lawmakers and four Crimea-based separatist leaders with financial sanctions for undermining “democratic processes and institutions in Ukraine”.
The US list included Dmitry Rogozin, a Russian deputy prime minister, Valentina Matviyenko, head of the upper house of the Russian parliament and the ousted Ukrainian leader, Viktor Yanukovych.
“Today’s actions send a strong message to the Russian government that there are consequences for their actions that violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, including their actions supporting the illegal referendum for Crimean separation,” the White House said in a statement.
The EU has also shown its support for Ukraine by announcing it will temporarily remove customs duties on Ukrainian exports to the EU.
Ukraine’s acting President Oleksander Turchinov said Kiev was ready for negotiations with Russia, but it would never accept the annexation of Crimea.
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Obama: ‘Tough choices’ for Netanyahu
United stateS President Barack Obama has warned that Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu must make “tough decisions” to advance peace talks with the Palestinians.
At the White House, Mr Netanyahu replied Israelis expected him to “stand strong” and that the Palestinians had not done their part to ease tensions.
The White House has said it hopes to see a peace deal in place by 29 April. But there has been little sign of progress since July, when direct talks resumed after a three-year hiatus.
The two leaders spoke publicly ahead of a bilateral meeting at the White House.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will visit Mr Obama later this month.
“It is still possible to create two states, a Jewish state of Israel and a state of Palestine, with people living side-by-side in peace and security,” Mr Obama said. “But it’s difficult. It requires compromise on all sides.”
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Obama warns Netanyahu over peace talks failure
President Barack Obama has warned Israel of “international fallout” if it does not endorse a US framework for a peace deal with the Palestinians.
Ahead of talks at the White House, Mr Obama told the Bloomberg news agency that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu needed to “seize the moment”.
But Mr Netanyahu reacted defiantly, vowing: “I won’t give in to pressure.”
There has been little sign of progress from the direct talks that resumed in July after a three-year hiatus.
At the time, Washington said it sought to achieve a deal on a solution to the decades-old conflict by 29 April, but officials say a framework accord on core issues would enable negotiations to continue beyond that date.
The BBC’s Kim Ghattas in Washington says Mr Netanyahu wants Monday’s talks to focus on Iran’s controversial nuclear programme.
He believes the US and other world powers are being naive in their negotiations with Tehran, and he is opposed to an agreement that would allow uranium enrichment to continue at low levels.
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Obama to Karzai: U.S. planning full Afghan pullout
President Barack Obama has warned his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai that the US may pull all of its troops out of his country by the year’s end.
Mr Obama conveyed the message in a phone call to Mr Karzai, who has refused to sign a security agreement.
The US insists this agreement must be in place before it commits to leaving some troops behind for counter-insurgent operations and training.
The US has had troops in Afghanistan since 2001 when it toppled the Taliban.
Its forces went into the country following the 9/11 attacks on the US. With Afghan and Western allies, they quickly overthrew the Taliban authorities, but have faced insurgent attacks since then.
Correspondents say the disagreement over the BSA is the latest step in the long and deteriorating relationship between Washington and Mr Karzai, who was once seen as a key US ally.
“President Obama told President Karzai that because he has demonstrated that it is unlikely that he will sign the BSA (Bilateral Security Agreement), the United States is moving forward with additional contingency planning,” the White House said in a statement.
“Specifically, President Obama has asked the Pentagon to ensure that it has adequate plans in place to accomplish an orderly withdrawal by the end of the year should the United States not keep any troops in Afghanistan after 2014.
“Furthermore, the longer we go without a BSA, the more likely it will be that any post-2014 US mission will be smaller in scale and ambition.”
The BSA, which offers legal protection for US troops and defines a post-2014 Nato training and anti-insurgent mission, was agreed by the two countries last year.
While Mr Karzai has refused to sign it, some candidates in April’s Afghan presidential elections – which Mr Karzai cannot contest after serving two terms – have indicated they would.
Analysts say the statement clearly implies that Mr Karzai’s stance will harm his country’s security long after he steps down as president in two months’ time.
The White House statement came as US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel flew to Brussels for a Nato meeting at which Afghanistan is due to be discussed.