View from Manila: War games in the Philippines as war goes awry in the Gulf

MANILA, Philippines — Even as the situation in the Strait of Hormuz and the larger Middle East vacillates between threats that “a whole civilization will die tonight” and negotiations that are steady and hopeful, some 10,000 soldiers from the United States military will be training in the Philippines for the weeks-long yearly Balikatan wargames. Despite other things happening elsewhere in the world, “Balikatan is proof that the US’ ironclad commitment to the Philippines remains unwavering,” said Lieutenant General Christian Wortman, commanding general of the First Marine Expeditionary Force. For three weeks from April 20 until the second week of May,…