The Smith Custody Battle, a Question of Power and Interests

Published on February 28, 2009

Perhaps people are wondering why the US is so hell-bent on protecting a rapist and why the Arroyo government is so willing to oblige. If a Filipino committed the same crime in the US, he would surely rot in a US jail and not while away the time in the Philippine embassy.

It is because the Smith custody battle represents some bigger issues: it is all about assertions of power and interests.

BY BENJIE OLIVEROS
ANALYSIS

The guns of the Senate has become silent. Moves to review and abrogate the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) have seemingly fizzled out. This is ominous. The US and Arroyo governments have wanted the issue to die down so that they could keep Lance Corporal Daniel Smith, who was convicted of raping a Filipina “Nicole” in 2005, in the US embassy (or in the US?).

It is because the Smith custody battle represents some bigger issues: it is all about assertions of power and interests.

The US could not care less about the sovereignty of other countries. In fact, Smith and his comrade-in-arms are here to project US military might and to protect US interests. They are not here to help the Philippine government annihilate “terrorists”. The Abu Sayyaf is merely practice game for US troops.

US troops are here to hone their combat skills and test out their counter-terror, counter-insurgency strategies; to train a surrogate army – the Armed Forces of the Philippines – that would protect its economic and geopolitical interests; to maintain US military presence in the region; and to intimidate other peoples and nations who are thinking of challenging its military hegemony.

To fulfill these objectives, the US wants to always preserve the fighting capacity and morale of its troops.

It would want to demonstrate to its soldiers that it would protect them no matter what especially since demoralization has crept in among its troops in Iraq and Afghanistan with cases of desertion during furloughs. Added to this, a US soldier imprisoned in a foreign country would certainly affect recruitment. The US Armed Forces is so desperate about recruiting more soldiers that it is opening its doors not only to permanent residents who are non-citizens, but also to those with non-permanent visas. It is trying to lure non-citizens with promises of facilitating their applications for US citizenship.

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