More Than a “Muslim Problem”

Americans, whose soldiers are mired in Iraq, aren’t the only ones suffering from presidential follies. Across the Pacific, another president triggered renewed fighting with Muslim rebels by, get this, agreeing to a peace deal with them. Say what? The Philippine government signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, granting autonomy to territory that the rebels currently control. The catch, however, is that autonomy would require the Philippine republic to become a federation, which in turn requires changing the nation’s Constitution. This galvanized opponents of President Gloria Arroyo. They believe the agreement fits neatly with her ambition to stay in office beyond her constitutional term of six years with no reelection. They think she’s behind a campaign to change the nation’s charter so she won’t be termed out of office. Court challenges followed the MOA, while the Philippine military quickly demanded that the MILF retreat from certain areas they controlled now that the agreement had been signed. Some rebel units, refused, apparently incensed by the legal challenges and ignoring their central leadership’s instructions. The ensuing fighting has led to scores of deaths and the displacement of thousands of civilians. The chaos is adding fuel to anti-Moro sentiments in the Philippines dominant population of Christians.

Far and Away

How far away do the White House incumbents have to be from the GOP convention to not be identified with McCain? Not far enough, it turns out. The Republicans practically disinvited President Bush to their convention by insisting that he just telecast his very short speech. Veep Cheney, meanwhile, chose to be in Azerbaijan! Ouch. Meanwhile, Palintologists will most likely find more relics of her past because McCain Expressed her vetting so he could steal Obama’s convention thunder. Now he’s saying that the controversy over his vice presidential choice is all media bias, hoping they will be shamed into backing off. But they won’t. They smell legitimate investigative fodder because the McCain campaign has tried to gloss over Palin’s creds. Hopefully, McCain won’t use his Vietnam mantra, as in “I also had to make rush decisions when I was a POW”? He should spare us the torture.