Lesson for Phl in US-France falling out

Those Filipinos who are putting all their eggs in one basket by exclusively relying on a mutual defense treaty the Philippines has with the United States for the external security of the country had better take an urgent lesson about friendship in the current falling out between France on the one hand, and the United States and Australia on the other.

France, bristling with anger and smarting from disappointment, has recalled its envoys from the two countries. France, mincing no words, called the reason for the falling out as a "stab in the back." And by all indications, it was. France had a done megabucks deal with Australia, contracts signed, for it to sell conventional submarines to the country.

But if it had been a wedding, it was not meant to be. The marriage was not consummated. By morning of the wedding day, the bride had hied off to another man. For the next time France looked, Australia had already gone to the United States for the supply of nuclear submarines. Never mind if it already had a signed contract with France.

Obviously, it had to be the United States who initiated the treachery. Australia already had a done deal with France, already signed a contract with that country. It could not have just changed its mind without outside intervention and influence. Enter the United States who saw a golden opportunity in the French-Australian deal to further its security interests in the Indo-Pacific region. Making money was just secondary to the treachery.

Australia is an important ally to the United States in the Indo-Pacific region because it is part of the region. France may be the United States' oldest ally, a carryover from the very early days of its nationhood. But France is in Europe, not in the Indo-Pacific. Here in this region, Australia is a more important ally to the United States than France is, their long-time friendship notwithstanding.

Here in this region Australia is America's sidekick, as are Japan and South Korea, in its escalating tensions with China. But Japan is hamstrung by a defense-oriented constitution while South Korea faces a more serious threat from North Korea and is not wont to antagonize China, the only country that can rein in Pyongyang.

Of course, the United States has another ally in the region --the Philippines. But our dear old Philippines has almost nothing to contribute to the security interests of America. It is, for all intents and purposes, just a boisterous cheering squad for the United States. The fact that it keeps invoking its mutual defense treaty with America makes it an American liability.

The Philippines still does not get it that the treaty, crafted during the Cold War, was meant to serve American interests, in case the Cold War escalated into a shooting war. America never meant it to serve Philippine interests further down the road. If at all, for appearances sake, America will contribute hardware. But never any warm American bodies.

But Australia can ride shotgun with the United States. It is a brave country with brave people with a long history of chipping in to any war effort in the name of freedom and democracy. Problem is, it cannot seem to say no to the United States. So when the US offered nuclear submarines so it can jointly patrol the region with bigger sticks, it promptly bit. Poor France. And poor Philippines if it continues to play deaf, dumb, and blind to real lessons.