War on Drugs Filipino style

[Onkel Neal]

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/08/28/as...war/index.html

Duterte's tough talk on the country's drug and crime problems won him the election and, 60 days on from his inauguration, he remains extremely popular.

"Double your efforts. Triple them, if need be. We will not stop until the last drug lord, the last financier, and the last pusher have surrendered or put behind bars -- or below the ground, if they so wish," he said in his July 25 State of the Nation speech.

Getting tough on drugs and getting results.

[August]

Originally Posted by Onkel Neal

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/08/28/as...war/index.html





Getting tough on drugs and getting results.

Some results:

Lifeless bodies lying on the streets of the Philippines are a visceral sign of new President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs.So far more than 1,900 people have died. Of those more than 700 have been killed in police operations since Duterte took office in late June, according to police statistics. Many of the unsolved deaths are attributed to vigilantes.

"Those policemen might kill us once we spoke out the truth," Janie says. "I said to myself, they have the license to kill already." They came to his house, she says, and forced their way in.
"Handcuffed already, they shot (him in the) head." Janie alleges they killed three other men with him.

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by August

Some results:

Yep, that's how it works

[Oberon]

Kill them all and let God sort out the innocent from the guilty?

[Rockstar]

Had they sold bananas they might have lived longer.

[Onkel Neal]

It's a war on drugs, get it? War?

[Oberon]

Collateral damage rarely helps a war effort.

[Betonov]

Exactly.

It's the thought of how many we're killed by mistake, malice or crossfire that prevents me from completely relishing that someone finally started whacking lowlifes from the face of the planet.

[Von Due]

One of my main concerns is when will we see the targets being critics of the president, or the chief of police, or the highest bidder? As for collatoral damage, the Miami drug wars in the 70's and 80's saw people being murdered by the hundreds, including toddlers. Murder is a basic, first-to-go-to tool in the drug traders' tool kit. Then the drugs themselves. Drugs wreck havoc on families, communities, regions and countries.

I am against going around killing, for whatever reason but I also wonder, what has not been tried in the war against drugs and is killing the dealers constructive in that sense? I'm not convinced it is but it is a tough question that puts the saying "the end justifies the means" to the test and I don't have a very good answer to that as it stands.

Will he be able to rid the country of drugs? No. Too much money involved and too powerful criminal organizations (and entire countries: North Korea's Room 39 leaps to mind) have an interest in it for one country and a maverick president to kick out the dealers. Eradicate local drug businesses and foreign drug businesses will move in and some of them are pretty well equipped for a war against the Philipino Govt.

Did these murders solve the drug problem then?

[Schroeder]

The problem I have with that is that police officers and self appointed "deputies" become law enforcement, jury, judge and executioner in one person. No hard evidence needed. What happened to the right of a fair trial (if there was such a thing in the Philippines)? How are innocent supposed to defend themselves from wrong accusations if being accused already gets you a bullet to the head? How is made sure that no one is using the whole mess to get rid of unwanted business competition, critics etc?
What's going on there has nothing to do with a nation of law.

[HunterICX]

Originally Posted by Oberon

Collateral damage rarely helps a war effort.

No, but realistically collateral damage and War effort, one doesn't come without the other as that's the price to pay in any War just make the end of it worth that price and keep it as low and unintentional as possible.
I Doubt it though that this is the case with this but it seems the people are supportive of his methods so well they think it's worth the price so far but that'll change if he goes to far which I suspect he will one day.

Anyway besides that I don't agree that someone can just hand out a license to kill to a police force who is to serve and protect and that includes the rights of suspected but not confirmed felons...you can put the druglords, dealers, cutters & brewers or what you call them against the wall for all I care but only after they've been confirmed to be guilty with solid evidence of the crime and not before.

[Jimbuna]

It would appear this guy is 'deadly' serious in any sense of the word...

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to "separate" from the UN after it criticised his war on drugs as a crime under international law.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-37147630

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by Oberon

Collateral damage rarely helps a war effort.

Yeah, tell that to Hiroshima.

One of my main concerns is when will we see the targets being critics of the president, or the chief of police, or the highest bidder? As for collatoral damage, the Miami drug wars in the 70's and 80's saw people being murdered by the hundreds, including toddlers. Murder is a basic, first-to-go-to tool in the drug traders' tool kit. Then the drugs themselves. Drugs wreck havoc on families, communities, regions and countries.

I would be very concerned too, this kind of thing can get out of control, with police becoming a hit squad for non-criminal related activities. Still, if the govt there is managing this carefully, the 1900 bodies would be drug criminals who were the cancer eating away their communities.

[Ashikaga]

A very dangerous man with dictatorial aspects.

A killer without remorse.

Worse than Marcos if you ask me.

Ashikaga

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by HunterICX

No, but realistically collateral damage and War effort, one doesn't come without the other as that's the price to pay in any War just make the end of it worth that price and keep it as low and unintentional as possible.
I Doubt it though that this is the case with this but it seems the people are supportive of his methods so well they think it's worth the price so far but that'll change if he goes to far which I suspect he will one day.

It doesn't mean that you shouldn't try to reduce that price, after all, isn't that exactly what we've striven to do in warfare technology since the Second World War?

Originally Posted by Onkel Neal

Yeah, tell that to Hiroshima.

If the bombs had been dropped in 1941 or 1942 at the extent of Japans victories and not at the nadir of her fortunes, do you think that Japan would have surrendered?
What about the people of Dresden, Hamburg, Coventry, London, Berlin, Warsaw, Rotterdam, Guernica, Frampol, and Kassel achieve for their nations war effort? Was the end of the war in Europe hastened by Bomber Commands attacks on civilian targets? Did Britain capitulate when the Luftwaffe bombed London?