The Philippines' Department of Foreign Affairs recently confirmed that a secret blacklist existed to prevent people disrupting the December 2006 and July 2007 summits of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Despite the fact that the list alleges that the individuals might have potential links to Al Qaeda or the Taliban, a Philippines senior immigration official who asked not to be identified claimed that the majority of the names on the list were "leftists".
The blacklist which includes the names of 68 Americans deemed to be "persona non grata" is available here.
In response, The US based Human Rights Watch advocacy director, Sophie Richardson, urged the Philippines to stop preventing peaceful critics to enter the country and stated - "Labeling peaceful critics as Al Qaida or Taliban only serves to sap public confidence in counter-terror measures and expose them as a cover for suppressing dissent".
What Ms. Richardson and others fail to understand is that there is a big difference between peaceful critics expressing their dissent and the brazen seditious calls for insurrection by the liberals and leftists of today. For countries that have witnessed firsthand the very evils of collectivism, these calls are not only undemocratic, but are considered to be threats to national security. Perhaps it is high time that Americans themselves buy a clue.
The blacklist however is only just the tip of the iceberg. Other countries who have a stake in the "war on terrorism" have found themselves bewildered by the tone of the ongoing "political debate" in the United States. Congressional enablers emboldened and supported by leftist groups such as Moveon have made it difficult for our foreign allies to determine where the pandering ends and the policy begins.
One might think that the miscommunication is nothing more than a challenge for our nation's diplomatic corps, but often times it is much more complicated than that. Besides the blacklists, a high ranking official of a country here confided that secret dossiers are now compiled on all State Department diplomats and employees that include, among other things, the individual's political leanings which in turn is used not only to correlate the level of cooperation that can be expected, but more importantly the potential threats the individual poses as well.
In April of this year we gave a glimpse into some of those concerns in the following:
"The subject of American's fecklessness and inconsistency is now being quietly debated in diplomatic circles over here in Southeast Asia. Some of our allies are now wondering how a deeply divided America will be able to muster the courage and resolve needed to face the challenges that we collectively face ahead. Some of these countries are now starting to reevaluate their own foreign policy positions now that America's partisan politics has spilled on to the world stage."
Transformed by the language of conflict and coercion, socialism not unlike Islamic totalitarianism has become an ideology of violence to be resisted uncompromisingly by those among us who value property above fraternity and liberty above equality.
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UPDATE: 3 October - The Blacklist has been removed - I have a copy and will see about uploading it later.
The blacklist which includes the names of 68 Americans deemed to be "persona non grata" is available here.
In response, The US based Human Rights Watch advocacy director, Sophie Richardson, urged the Philippines to stop preventing peaceful critics to enter the country and stated - "Labeling peaceful critics as Al Qaida or Taliban only serves to sap public confidence in counter-terror measures and expose them as a cover for suppressing dissent".
What Ms. Richardson and others fail to understand is that there is a big difference between peaceful critics expressing their dissent and the brazen seditious calls for insurrection by the liberals and leftists of today. For countries that have witnessed firsthand the very evils of collectivism, these calls are not only undemocratic, but are considered to be threats to national security. Perhaps it is high time that Americans themselves buy a clue.
The blacklist however is only just the tip of the iceberg. Other countries who have a stake in the "war on terrorism" have found themselves bewildered by the tone of the ongoing "political debate" in the United States. Congressional enablers emboldened and supported by leftist groups such as Moveon have made it difficult for our foreign allies to determine where the pandering ends and the policy begins.
One might think that the miscommunication is nothing more than a challenge for our nation's diplomatic corps, but often times it is much more complicated than that. Besides the blacklists, a high ranking official of a country here confided that secret dossiers are now compiled on all State Department diplomats and employees that include, among other things, the individual's political leanings which in turn is used not only to correlate the level of cooperation that can be expected, but more importantly the potential threats the individual poses as well.
In April of this year we gave a glimpse into some of those concerns in the following:
"The subject of American's fecklessness and inconsistency is now being quietly debated in diplomatic circles over here in Southeast Asia. Some of our allies are now wondering how a deeply divided America will be able to muster the courage and resolve needed to face the challenges that we collectively face ahead. Some of these countries are now starting to reevaluate their own foreign policy positions now that America's partisan politics has spilled on to the world stage."
Transformed by the language of conflict and coercion, socialism not unlike Islamic totalitarianism has become an ideology of violence to be resisted uncompromisingly by those among us who value property above fraternity and liberty above equality.
Related Posts
Divided We Stand, United We Fall
Osama Bin Laden's "Useful Idiots"
UPDATE: 3 October - The Blacklist has been removed - I have a copy and will see about uploading it later.
The gist of the list can be seen at Philippines: Government Bans Its Critics From Entering, and contains such stirling reputation Socialists as Ramsey Clark, the National Lawyers Guild, and the Center for Constitutional Rights. All of them are antithetical to the US Republic, and should be treated as the enemies they are. Good article, lao.
ReplyDelete"Labeling peaceful critics as Al Qaida or Taliban only serves to sap public confidence in counter-terror measures and expose them as a cover for suppressing dissent".
ReplyDeleteexactly. as with most policy like this, the real targets are domestic. it has nothing to do with islamic terrorism and everything to do with suppressing left-wing politics its and movements.
you should wake up to the fact that ASEAN is just a neo-liberal construct for the usual suspects to make huge amounts of money at the expense of the people.
Transformed by the language of conflict and coercion, socialism not unlike Islamic totalitarianism has become an ideology of violence to be resisted uncompromisingly by those among us who value property above fraternity and liberty above equality.
just another "useful idiot" for the economic and political elites of this world.