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US Ambassador to Manila snubs Sulu officials
The Smartest Men In the Room. (tm)
US Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg has inspected American troops stationed in the town of Jolo in the southern Philippine province of Sulu, but his visit was came under fire after he did not bother to meet with local government officials. Goldberg and embassy officials visited Jolo on June 2 and went straight to the Philippine Marine Brigade headquarters where US troops put up a small camp under the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines.

Some sources said that local officials, who learned about Goldberg's visit, had even prepared and were ready to brief the former Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research in case he wanted to discuss peace and development efforts in the province. But no one from Goldberg's group nor the US Embassy informed the officials that the ambassador would not be meeting with them for still unknown reasons. Some officials said they felt insulted and likened the American ambassador to a cat. One official said, "You know, cats just go inside your house and leave whenever they want. Animals do not have courtesy."

Many Muslims oppose the presence of US troops in Sulu because of the massacre of hundreds in what is known now as the "Bud Dajo Massacre" which happened over a century ago, but the memory of the American campaign is still fresh in the minds of many local Muslims.

Some 600 US troops have been stationed in the region since 2001 after three American nationals - Kansas missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham, and California man Guillermo Sobero - were kidnapped from a posh resort by the Abu Sayyaf. Sobero was beheaded by militants connected to al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya, while Martin was killed during a US-led rescue operation.
Posted by: ryuge 2014-06-09
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=392868