Is that what Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is doing with his just-acquired colonial master?  Or is this just another outcome from President Barack Obama’s (D) trailing along leading from behind?

The Philippine defense chief said Friday that he had suspended participation in any joint patrols with the US of the disputed South China Sea, the first concrete sign of a crack in the military alliance following the election of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana also said he also would ask a small detachment of American troops providing counterterrorism assistance on the southern island of Mindanao to leave as the president requested.

That last comes with Duterte’s proviso that our troops would not be asked to leave until the Philippine military can carry out its own counterterrorism operations.  That’s a judgment, though, that Duterte can make at any time.  Or when the PRC is ready to make its next move vis-à-vis the Philippines and leading us from the region.

Duterte’s rationale for halting the joint patrols is a reflection of the PRC’s growing influence over him:

Mr Duterte has said he wanted the patrols halted to avoid antagonizing Beijing….

Indeed.

President Barack Obama (D) has (finally) decided to identify publicly the Russian government as being behind Democratic Party associated email systems and as attempting to interfere with our elections,

The intelligence agencies, in a joint statement, alleged the hacks were directed by the most senior officials in the Russian government.

“We believe, based on the scope and sensitivity of these efforts, that only Russia’s senior-most officials could have authorized these activities,” the statement said.

Now that you’ve said that through the intelligence community, what are you going to do about it, Mr Obama?  What concrete actions is the United States going to take in response to these provocations?  Besides more of your idle chit chat, I mean.

An administration official said the US government could activate numerous measures in response to the alleged Russian operation, including diplomatic and economic steps as well as criminal charges.

So, we’ll stop talking to the Russians about this, like we did over their Syrian activities?  They’ll really be bothered by that.  Sure.

Criminal charges?  Do you seriously expect Russia to extradite their miscreants for trial here in their enemy’s jurisdiction?

Economic sanctions?  How well has that worked in getting Russia out of Ukraine and Georgia?  How well did that work in stopping the Russians from moving nuclear missiles into Kaliningrad?

As I said, besides your idle chit chat, what are you going to do?

President Barack Obama (D)…acquiesced…to Russian demands that we not deploy missile defense systems in eastern and southeastern Europe to counter intermediate range ballistic missiles that rogue nations, like Iran, might launch against our friends and allies.

Now Russia has deployed a modern missile system in Syria.  This isn’t the S-300 system the Russians sold Iran, though, ostensibly to defend against an air attack (against what in Iran? I’ll leave that as an exercise for the student).

No, this is Russia’s SA-23 missile system.  While it’s a variant of the S-300, this system is optimized for defense against short and intermediate range ballistic missiles and cruise missiles.  The system also is capable of launching smaller anti-aircraft missiles.  (Who in that fight has an air force against which to be defended?)

This SA-23 deployment came as Russian President Vladimir Putin “advised” Obama not to do anything foolish, else there’d be “tectonic consequences” for us.

Obama has chosen to remain silent on the matter.

There’s timidity, and there’s timidity.