President Donald Trump, on the other hand, made clear there is not going to be an indefinite US presence in Syria. Trump‘s statement is seen by observers as the absence of a US-plan to put boots on the ground like when US-led coalition forces invaded Iraq to oust Saddam Hussein. Syrian supporter Russia condemned the US and its allies‘ military action and warned of ―serious consequences.‖ But Moscow has yet to respond militarily to the punitive move against Damascus‘ chemical weapons program. Russia is believed to be supplying the nerve-agent component of Syria‘s chemical arsenal. Iran, a Syrian ally, assailed the US and its allies‘ action as a ―blatant attack against a sovereign state.‖ China, which has its hands full in the South China Sea territorial dispute, said the situation in Syria is ―dangerous.‖ But Beijing from the view of this corner is not expected to get involved in any military action in support of Syria. They‘d rather let rice rot Sacks of rice in the thousands were found rotting in a warehouse in Tacloban, Leyte. The rice stocks were confiscated when discovered by authorities to be smuggled. But why store and let the rice rot when the consignee-smuggler did not claim the imported rice cargo? The National Food Authority could have just distributed the rice for free to our indigent countrymen reeling from the high cost of the basic staple. Hoarding by commercial traders to drive up prices is seen as the cause of the dwindling supply. The government on the other hand would rather let the seized shipment rot instead of giving it away to the poor. This is a classic example of negligence if not sheer incompetence by NFA and Customs officials. President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to abolish the NFA because the government agency allowed the supply of rice to reach crisis proportion. By all means, do so. This is an agency
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