kscarbel2 Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 Cambodia scraps US military aid deal in latest snub to Washington The Financial Times / April 5, 2017 Expulsion of ‘Seabees’ reflects regional tilt away from America and towards China Cambodia has scrapped a long-running US military aid programme in the latest sign of a Southeast Asian nation tilting away from Washington and towards Beijing. Phnom Penh has asked the US Navy Mobile Construction Battalion — known as the Seabees — to leave without explanation after nine years in the country, the US embassy in Cambodia said. Cambodia this year cancelled a joint military exercise with the US while Hun Sen, the prime minister of 32 years, has revived a campaign to scrap debt to Washington racked up during the regional wars of the 1970s. The moves by Phnom Penh, long a Chinese ally, echo shifts away from Washington in fellow Southeast Asian countries including the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand. Cambodia notified the US last week of the indefinite postponement of the Seabees’ “community service” work, which included building maternity wards, water wells and school bathrooms, the US embassy said. “We would refer you to the Cambodian government for an explanation of their decision to curtail this long-term co-operation,” it added. Phay Siphan, a Cambodian government spokesman, referred questions to the ministry of defence. General Chhum Socheat, defence ministry spokesman, said he knew nothing about the decision. Prime Minister Hun Sen has used Trump’s arrival in the White House to renew calls for the cancellation of hundreds of millions of dollars of US loans made in the 1970s to the Washington-backed Lon Nol regime, which took power in a coup. Hun Sen, Asia’s longest-ruling leader, has over the years been irritated by US criticism of his efforts to concentrate power. Legal cases have been mounted against his leading opponents, while a law change this year allows the government to apply to the courts to have the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue party dissolved. Cambodia in January postponed its annual joint Angkor Sentinel military exercise with the US, saying its military was too busy with an anti-drug crackdown and local elections due in June. In December, Cambodia held the first “Golden Dragon” joint military maneuvers with China. The drill was part of growing Chinese security involvement in Cambodia, including the construction of a new deepwater port and the sale of helicopters and shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles. Hun Sen’s 3,000-strong prime ministerial bodyguard, a private army equipped with armored personnel carriers, missile launchers and Chinese-made machine guns, in 2010 formed an unusual “military-commercial alliance” with a Chinese-controlled company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kscarbel2 Posted April 5, 2017 Author Share Posted April 5, 2017 Cambodia clearly wants to be in bed with China. Great, their right to choose. But darn if my tax dollars are going to be spent building......anything.......in Cambodia. As it is, U.S. taxpayers now have to "unnecessarily" pay to rebuild an elevated federal interstate highway (I-85/Atlanta) because an "entitled" individual (Basil Eleby) while smoking crack started a fire under it. If I was king for a day, out of pure principle, I would deny him a (taxpayer-paid) public defender, disconnect him from government assistance (welfare, ect.), seize his assets (crack money) and garnish his wages for the rest of his life. . 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grayhair Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 Sounds to me like a victory for the U.S. taxpayer. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirtymilkman Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 10 hours ago, kscarbel2 said: Cambodia clearly wants to be in bed with China. Great, their right to choose. But darn if my tax dollars are going to be spent building......anything.......in Cambodia. As it is, U.S. taxpayers now have to "unnecessarily" pay to rebuild an elevated federal interstate highway (I-85/Atlanta) because an "entitled" individual (Basil Eleby) while smoking crack started a fire under it. If I was king for a day, out of pure principle, I would deny him a (taxpayer-paid) public defender, disconnect him from government assistance (welfare, ect.), seize his assets (crack money) and garnish his wages for the rest of his life. . I'm sure this man is an outstanding citizen. He probably is just stressed from working so much to take care of his children. I'm sure he has home owners insurance and proper automobile insurance that will probably take care of the cost of the damages. I think he needs a hug and all of our support. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Underdog Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 I'm sure this man is an outstanding citizen. He probably is just stressed from working so much to take care of his children. I'm sure he has home owners insurance and proper automobile insurance that will probably take care of the cost of the damages. I think he needs a hug and all of our support. All expenses paid one way ticket to Cambodia. Not only illegal immigrants, there are some of our citizens that need to be deported as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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