21st August 2004
GMA will be tickeld pink by her inclusion in the Forbes List of 100 most powerful women in the world.
The 2nd female President of the Philippines has been named as 9th in the list of 100 most powerful women...GMA has been cited as the "Iron lady of Asia" perhaps a reference in some way to her political strengths.
Forbes is a top American publication read by leaders and decision makers alike. and GMA has done pretty well out of it....it even cites U.S. Advisor Condoleeza Rice as slightly above her in terms of pure power in Politics.
However GMA is facing tough criticism from both the U.S. and U.K. Leaders President George W Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair who have distanced themselves from GMA's decision to pull Filiipino troops out of Iraq in order to secure the release of a Filiipino citizen.
Whilst the move by GMA might have led to the release of the Filiipino citizen held in Iraq the 2 coalition leaders fear this will lead to more kidnappings in Iraq....both the British Government and United States Government do not beleive that negotiating with terrorists is the right foreign policy to pursue.
However the loss of Filiipino troops will not be felt by the coalition as they were there only to represent a token presence and support showed by GMA for the Coalition and its links with the U.S. Administration in the fight against world terrorism.
Moderators comments: there are over 50 countries who are involved in some way in the re-building of Iraq and supply of imilitary forces..the bulk of the combat patrols is done by the U.S. Armed Forces some 130,000 Combat troops..and the U.K. Division in Iraq some 25,000 Troops, The U.S. Sixth Fleet is active in the Persian Gulf as is a smaller British Fleet, whilst the wtihdrawal of the Philippine troops will be seen as a political blow.....the operatironal loss wll not cause any real problems for the Coaltion..as their were only 50 Filipino troops in Iraq...the decision by GMA may have much further implications for the Coaltion in the future.
