Waltzing with the Dictator

This volume is thorough, starting with Ferdinand Marcos's"history"--one of dubious quality to say the least. Inshort, while his father and probably he were collaborators with theJapanese during WWII, Marcos bought some medals and manufactured hisstatus as a war hero who helped save the Philippines from the ruthlessJapanese. Oh, and then there's the murder of one of his father'sopponents, of which Marcos was convicted and later talked himselfout. It was an apt introduction to one of the most consummate liars inhuman history.Then there's Imelda, worth a volume or twoherself. (More later.)The reader will recall that Jimmy Carter putthe "human rights" crusade on the map during hisadministration. But when it came to the Philippines, that crusade wastabled. Bonner covers that while Pat Derrian did her best to force theMarcos regime to capitulate, Holbrooke, her superior in the StateDept., would permit no such thing. It seems that Marcos was tooconvenient to the U.S. what with the enormous military bases in thePhilippines, Clark (Air Force) and Subik Bay (Navy). And Bonner goesone step further than many a critic of that era: He challenges theassumption that those bases were necessary, i.e., served any viablemilitary purpose. But they continued, despite all the righteousCarter rhetoric--as did the Marcos regime.Regan didn't evendecorate himself with things as trite as "human rights"rhetoric. Imelda had flirted with him back in the late 60s while shewas building a cultural center light years beyond the reach of 90percent of Filipinos, so she and Ferdinand were home free. Then therewas Jeane Kirkpatrick and her "Our enemies are totalitariandictators, not [merely] authoritarian dictators like ourfriends." And while the Reaganites whined about the evils ofcommunism, Marcos was busy nationalizing everything in the country,such as Philippine Airlines once they'd submitted a bill for Imelda'sromps all over the globe. And that lead to the witty portions ofthe book that kept one smiling despite the seriousness of the subjectmatter. The jester was, of course, Imelda. A couple of examples thatcome to mind are a one-day shopping spree in New York in which humbleImelda spent $2,181,000 on jewelry and furniture, and the Marcos 25thwedding anniversary in which Imelda stood humbly at the altar wearinga meek veil and carrying a rosary all the beads of which werediamonds. This while three out of five Filipino children werestarving.And Reagan stuck with Marcos until after the Marinehelicopter carried him from his palace.Bonner concludes that ourforeign policy toward Marcos was myopic. When Marcos declared martiallaw in '72, the communist party and the New People Army (NPA)in thePhilippines were small time, about as proportionally significant asthey are in most countries. But the repression, the elections thatwere transparent jokes, the murdered opposition leaders--especiallyNinoy Aquino whose widow eventually succeeded Marcos--the conspicuousconsumption, the "crony capit

Okay, since the end of the Cold War nobody's terribly interesting in reading accounts of America cozing up to reprehensible slimeball dictators like Ferdinand Marcos anymore, right? Too bad, since Raymond Bonner's account of American involvement in the Phillippines is one of the best examples of the genre. Bonner follows Uncle Sam's footprints on the archipelago from the granting of independence after World War II until the inglorious fall of Ferdinand and his revolting wife Imelda. Bonner raises the legitimate question as to if such support was necessary for American security. Such questions may be moot now, but they still make for fascinating reading.