Let's move on

I'm amused at how a lot of people seem to be taking too seriously the resulting "uproar" of some countries, such as Australia, over the Philippine government's decision to pull out from Iraq a month ahead of schedule. The Belmont Club has several posts on the matter, the most recent being one on the Philippine government's call for the Australian ambassador to Manila to explain Australian Foreign Minister Downer's statements criticizing Malacañang's caving in to terrorist demands.

Ladies and gentlemen, please. Let's not be naive. It's what is called face-saving. The entire thing is a diplomatic charade. The Australian government has just recently inked a Free Trade Agreement with the US whose Senate had already approved the agreement. The Australian Assembly, on the other hand, is still in the process of approving the same. It doesn't take a genius to see that it is to Australia's best interest at the moment to appear the strongest US ally in Asia.

After the pull-out, the Philippine government can only deal with the harsh criticisms from the international community by going through the motions of defending its sovereign pride. Everything is matter-of-course. Let's not overstate the obvious. There are bureaucratic and diplomatic courses of action that must be taken, which are expected to be taken, in this kind of situation.

A sovereign nation has made a decision. Right or wrong (from the point of view of the Coalition of the Willing), that decision must be respected under the principle of sovereign equality of states. International law and diplomacy requires this. That Australia keeps on using the Philippines as a tool to kiss Uncle Sam's ass is at once despicable and pathetic.

I agree with Ruth Pearce, the Australian Ambassador to this country. In a tv interview a couple of days ago, on her way out of Malacañang, she remarked that the two countries are friends and this incident would not at all affect the relations between them. She ended her statement with, "Let's move on."

Philippine media made much of the fact that the Ambassador made no apologies. She's a diplomat, and the statement made was very well prepared. She knows it. She's aware of this whole diplomatic crap. Hats off to you, Ms. Pearce.