at home in the world

A few days ago, I read a random blog authored by a medical student or resident doctor in Saudi Arabia. I was reading about him and his friends, who all had odd non-Arabic names and then I scrolled to see photos of a bunch of Asian men about my age. Like so many productive denizens of Saudi Arabia, they were Filipino.

I didn't plan this introduction, and in fact I have no idea where to find this blog of - let's call him Mr. F. But I learned a lot more about the importance of Mr. F and his friends, to his family, his country, and the intricate weave of the world economy, all of which are threatened by a war of choice.

In July, the Philippine government decided to withdraw from the "coalition of the willing" in occupied Iraq. I don't recall much coverage of this event in the U.S., though it reveals how willingly they participated. Anyway, here is how Radio Singapore analyzed the decision.

The Philippines has begun pulling its forces out of Iraq, after a militant group has threatened to execute a Filipino hostage.

The pullout was initiated after another group of kidnappers in Iraq said they beheaded one of two Bulgarian hostages.

Despite the pullout, Manila had no information on the situation of Filipino hostage, Angelo de la Cruz.

Asiri Abubakar (AA) is the Professor of Asian Studies at the University of Philippines, and he updates RSI's Melanie Yip on the contingent pullout.

AA: I think the final figure now, the remaining contingent in Iraq is about 43.

Now, on the issue of the hostage taking. Other countries like South Korea and Japan did not pull their troops out of Iraq despite public pressure. So why did the Philippines decide to withdraw their troops now and earlier than their scheduled pull out date in August?

AA: I think that on the part of our government, the Arroyo Administration is, for the first time, facing a tremendous internal pressure on this issue. You see, we have around 8 million Filipinos working abroad, and there is tremendous pressure from families of these millions of Filipinos who are working abroad. They leave the country in search for jobs abroad because our country is not in any position to give the people that many jobs. This is purely internal pressure, which is tremendous. The Arroyo Administration cannot set aside this pressure.

But do you think that by pulling out the troops, it will help President Gloria Arroyo's political standing in the country?

AA: Well, it is a terrible choice for the administration, it must be admitted. But the [Philippines Presidential] elections have just concluded, there are so many political and economic issues facing the administration, so these are some of the factors the administration had to consider the pressure coming from the families, and other sectors to take advantage of the ongoing hostage taking situation.

Now, how is the United States reacting to the Philippines' decision to withdraw its troops from Iraq?

AA: I think it is a great displeasure for the United States, particularly for the Bush Administration, when he is facing re-election this year. It is understandable for the Bush Administration to be displeased with the decision of our government. This is the first time that any Philippines Administration has openly defied its decision to support an American policy, particularly in the case of Iraq.

What message will this current situation of the Philippines withdrawing their troops from Iraq, how would this set a precedence for the coalition of the willing in future?

AA: Well, other countries have done it, like Spain. We are doing almost like Spain, although in their case, Spain has experienced such horrible happenings like the train bombings before their elections. The new Spanish government decided to withdraw their troops. I hope it doesn't set an example for other countries to follow. As far as the Philippines is concerned, it is unique to us. We have this tremendous number of Filipinos working abroad, most of them in the Middle East. So there is tremendous pressure on this administration.

Will the terrorist groups get the upper hand?

AA: I don't know whether we can influence, and how much our decisions matter. It may not also help that the terrorist threats the Philippines is facing on the domestic front. The Philippines went to Iraq on the basis of our commitment to help the international community laid by the US to fight terror. But there is also a problem with respect to the war in Iraq. Even the US officials and some members of the coalition of the willing, including the UK are saying that there was not much justification for going to war. So that's also one problem.. The war was not internationally recognized, and even some Filipinos feel that the war is immoral.

Some people have said that a truly international coalition desired by the realists ala the Gulf War would have been very difficult, if not impossible, to achieve. But the fact that the U.S. didn't even try but instead created a multilateral facade to hide its singular arrogant face, means that even the facade will be very difficult, if not impossible, to duplicate.

I didn't realize how globalized our society has become, for everyone. Not just the very rich or very poor nations, but especially for those in between like the Philippines, whose human talent is not matched by its economic might. So its doctors, nurses, engineers, and maids are flung across the world, applying their skills where the financial rate of return is greater.

But all the flinging and border crossing depends on stability, and the more far-flung your pool of talent becomes, the greater becomes your desire for international political stability. By diving into Iraq under American pressure, President Arroyo put her nation's welfare at risk. And domestic terrorism or insurgency doesn't even play into the decision, because that occurs anyway. The concern are the 8 million living abroad and sustaining home who are potential hostages.

And the retractions regarding "weapons of mass destruction" by US and UK leaders really unhinge the screws from the facade. Americans may be alright with the war of choice and regime change, but the rest of the world really sold this on terrorism. But we sold our satellites' leaders a bill of goods, and forced them to sell it to their people. Either sale will be much harder when we need to make the hard sell - say, in fighting real terrorism or preventing a nuclear threat. Or how about averting genocide? International law aside, those political consequences are arguably worse than leaving a brutal dictator in power.

As the town elder told the shepherd boy who cried wolf, "You must tell the truth, not just now and then, but all the time."