Philippines' Duterte likens himself to Hitler, wants to kill millions of drug users
Source: Reuters
By Karen Lema and Manuel Mogato | MANILA
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte appeared to liken himself to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler on Friday and said he would "be happy" to exterminate three million drug users and peddlers in the country.
His comments triggered shock and anger among Jewish groups in the United States, which will add to pressure on the U.S. government to take a tougher line with the Philippines leader. Duterte recently insulted President Barack Obama and in a series of remarks he has undermined the previously close relationship between Manila and Washington.
In a rambling speech on his arrival in Davao City after a visit to Vietnam, Duterte told reporters that he had been "portrayed to be a cousin of Hitler" by critics. Noting that Hitler had murdered millions of Jews, Duterte said: "There are three million drug addicts (in the Philippines). I'd be happy to slaughter them.
"If Germany had Hitler, the Philippines would have...," he said, pausing and pointing to himself.
-snip-
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-duterte-hitler-idUSKCN1200B9
Renew Deal
(81,869 posts)GusBob
(7,286 posts)She said that he was like a mafia figure there, and that on the Island he was from violence was a common factor.
My question is, did this guy say he was "The Trump of the Philippines" ?
cagefreesoylentgreen
(838 posts)Older guys mostly, and I haven't found one that doesn't support Duerte. It's kind of terrifying.
From what I've picked up from them is that they don't like Duerte the man. One guy rails against him because he's a Muslim and wastes taxpayer money by using his presidential helicopter to commute to the capitol rather than live in the presidential palace. But they all like what he's doing.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)christx30
(6,241 posts)How bad was the drug problem in the country before Duterte started this? Rewind the clocks back a year. Were people dying of overdoses in the streets? Was drug related crime really high? Stealing of property or murders? How bad was the problem, and what was being done to combat it?
If people don't believe enough is being done to combat an issue, they are going to look to extreme measures, no matter how bad those measures are.
ansible
(1,718 posts)Poverty is incredibly bad in the Philippines, many have no choice but to turn to drugs to earn money or just simply to forget about their terrible lives. The most common drugs there is crystal meth, which is extremely addictive and destructive. And the government is simply too weak to do anything about it, Duterte is just basically letting the people take care of it without having to do anything himself.
christx30
(6,241 posts)Huge problem that affected many people+ineffectual government = looking for the easiest solution possible. Treatment for addiction is expensive and difficult. Bullets are cheap and easy. Plus I'm sure getting rid of "certain people" leads to less strain on social services. He's found a solution to the problem. You might say a Final Solution.
ansible
(1,718 posts)The Philippines has a very long and unfortunate history of extremely weak and corrupt presidents. Duterte is unusual in being the first president to come from a lower class background, which is why he acts so crude. And just as importantly he's not a tagalog, he's from Mindanao.
Feeling the Bern
(3,839 posts)I'm heading to Maledives or back to Thailand.
So much for Cebu, Borecay and Bali.
Chicago1980
(1,968 posts)Seeing that he's admitting this now, maybe he should just be taken out before more worldly damage is done.
tom_kelly
(961 posts)Bernardo de La Paz
(49,027 posts)August 5, 2016
https://adobochronicles.com/2016/08/05/philippine-president-duterte-challenges-donald-trump-to-a-fistfight/
MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump may have finally met his match in Philippine President Rodrigo R. Duterte. The two have often been likened to each other, but they are thousands of miles apart, literally and figuratively.
Today, Duterte publicly challenged Trump to a fistfight gloves off after the American businessman-turned-politician called for the banning of Filipinos from entering the United States.
Campaigning in Maine on Thursday, Trump called for restrictions on immigrants from the Philippines and other countries with high rates of terrorism. {...}
Trump had proposed the immigration ban previously but this was the first time that he specifically mentioned the Philippines.
snort
(2,334 posts)The US was the progenitor of extreme drug hate and paranoia, to the benefit of a few of its business elites. So its ever been in this country. Rarely are these laws enacted in the interest of the citizen. All the pain, hardship and cost of mass incarceration over these decades was good for a handful of wealthy people. Millions of lives altered or destroyed for the profit of a few. Shining city on a hill is a disgusting lie.
LiberalLovinLug
(14,175 posts)We've turned the Philippines, and other countries, into paranoid authoritarian prisons.
I have a Philiphine sister-in-law. She is also all for Duterte. They are for the most part very right wing, and religious.
Throd
(7,208 posts)Foreigners are perfectly capable of inventing stupid policies entirely on their own.
EX500rider
(10,849 posts)Igel
(35,337 posts)He just played off of them, instead of pouting at something bad being told about him.
Certainly not genteel. But he's not aiming for the support of those who have had master's studies in political science or sociology or even anthropology.
Sometimes just mentioning the wrong word sends those who need the universe to be a safe space off into trigger-land, regardless of the word's context or in-situ meaning. Good thing they're not in charge of things, they're eminently unqualified.
cagefreesoylentgreen
(838 posts)The victims of his extra-judicial murder squads certainly need a safe space
Bradical79
(4,490 posts)No need for your anti-intellectual bullshit.
Shankapotomus
(4,840 posts)moondust
(20,002 posts)some police or vigilantes suspect that Duturdy himself is in fact a big drug lord and his war on drugs is just a campaign to eliminate his competition? Okay to go ahead and take him out based on their suspicion?