The prelude to the latest round of talks on the future of the huge U.S. Navy and Air Force bases in the Philippines was routine: communist insurgents blew up a Voice of America transmitter, while right-wing military rebels were ! blamed for detonating a bomb at a Manila bank.
But when the two sides finally sat down together at the Central Bank building in the capital, U.S. negotiator Richard Armitage offered a new tack. Instead of focusing on Washington's inability to pay more than the current $481 million a year in rent, Armitage declared, "The days of a very large presence...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
