The weakness of President Bush citing the Philippines as a model in rebuilding Iraq:
While the administration often speaks of the occupations of Japan and Germany after World War II as rough models for the effort to rebuild Iraq, Mr. Bush used the visit [to Manila] to make a less explicit analogy to the American administration of the Philippines, which also led to the formation of a democracy. But the comparison has less power to reassure, given that the Philippine government did not gain full autonomy for five decades.
For better or worse, the United States held the Philippines from the turn of the twentieth century to 1946.
Fashion notes (I apologize for the trivial aside, but you know you don’t come to Rebel Prince for pure politics anyway): some legislators in the Philippine Congress silently protested in anticipation of Bush’s address to the joint session, wearing various emblems, one being a rather lovely shawl with the words “No to U.S. War” and a colorful dove trampling a missile. Perhaps Bush was advised to soften his image—the Times notes an “aversion to local garb”—by wearing to the state dinner a barong, the traditional (and practical, given the tropical weather) garment for men. Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo wore a bright red terno with its characteristic butterfly sleeves.
