A credible military for the Philippines

[IndefatigableRN]

Nope, not necessarily. Philippines have CB with Sabah thru the Sultante of Sulu. USA pursued also the same course back then when Philippines was a colony of USA. Only way Philippines can justify moving to Brunei and Sarawak is if both request help to be liberated. OTL Brunei was having a revolt in this time period. Considering that majority of local population in Sabah back then were people of Sulu, Tausugs etc..

Ok, they have a CB. I am still not sure how that doesn't make them the aggressor. After all, Mussolini had a CB on Ethiopia, didn't stop him from being the aggressor...

The Americans aren't stupid. Britain and Co. are far more important allies in the grander American strategy. I fail to see why they would back aggressive Philippine action against the interests of their most important allies in Europe and the Pacific...

 

[Namayan]

Ok, they have a CB. I am still not sure how that doesn't make them the aggressor. After all, Mussolini had a CB on Ethiopia, didn't stop him from being the aggressor...

The Americans aren't stupid. Britain and Co. are far more important allies in the grander American strategy. I fail to see why they would back aggressive Philippine action against the interests of their most important allies in Europe and the Pacific...

Although Philippines was independent, its external decisions were really decided by the USA. Philippines cannot act without USAs consent with regards to Konfrontasi. Philippines at this time OTL had laws still intertwined it with the USA and made Philippines dependent to the USA.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_Trade_Act
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurel–Langley_Agreement

 

[IndefatigableRN]

Although Philippines was independent, its external decisions were really decided by the USA. Philippines cannot act without USAs consent with regards to Konfrontasi. Philippines at this time OTL had laws still intertwined it with the USA and made Philippines dependent to the USA.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_Trade_Act
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurel–Langley_Agreement

Right, and the USA is not going to back a Philippine attack on Malaysia (unless Malaysia goes Communist or something...)

 

[Namayan]

Right, and the USA is not going to back a Philippine attack on Malaysia (unless Malaysia goes Communist or something...)

I think you have a misconception of what was Malaysia. Modern 2013 Malaysia includes British Borneo. However, British Borneo was not even part of Malaysia at the start of Konfrontasi.

If Philippines does participate, it would just to get Northern Borneo since the Sultanate of Sulu wanted it back from the British. Once Philippines has liberated Northern Borneo from the British and given back to the Sultanate of Sulu, it will stop there unless Brunei or Brooke's Sarawak requests liberation.

However, Philippine participation would either require 1) the Manila Accord not happening at all or 2) Sabah refusing to be part of Malaysia as per UN referendum and the British not respecting the UN referendum.

On the side note, I would be curious to see Gurkha regiments going against Tausug Regiments since both are known for their military prowess and bravery.

I have placed discussion on Konfrontasi military data here: http://forum.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=284767

 

[orangnumpanglewat]

The whole idea of Konfrontasi was to prevent the formation of Malaysia. It was also officially not a plan to annex North Malaysia but to "liberate" the people of Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei. It was mainly a ploy by Soekarno to make Indonesians forget about their empty wallets and stomachs, which failed miserably. Indonesians were already fed up bynSoekarno's megalomania by then. The Konfrontasi came to an end because Soekarno, probably the only person who bought his own propaganda, was deposed by Soeharto. The replacing government was pro-American and seeked reconciliation with its neighbours, including the Philippines.

Perhaps get Indonesia and Malaysia communists, and then Thailand, leaving the Philippines in a very very dangerous place. The military would then be a very very important matter, if they don't want to be next in line in the domino theory. The United States giving them nukes would not be that far-fetched.