Filipinos say, "Goodbye."

As Filipino soldiers prepare to leave Iraq, the U.S. led coalition have continued to criticize President Arroyo's decision to withdraw her troops in order adhere to the demands of the terrorist group that has taken a Filipino hostage.  Was this a ploy on Arroyo's part to save her own reputation from the public right after a very close election which was won with the slightest of margins, or is this simply a decision based on compassion to save one soul?   I would like to believe the latter.   We Filipinos have always been a culture that cherished our family values and moral standards.  Other countries would even label us as, "old fashioned".  President Arroyo's decision, although unpopular, was the right thing to do - the Filipino way.  She not only  the helped the dela Cruz family, but this could possibly help reunite the divisions within the Philippine government as well.  I've always believed that war has no good and moral values.  War is definitely not a Filipino virtue. We should know from our history, having been invaded and ruled by the Spaniards and the Japanese.  The last thing we should do is support a coalition that invaded a defenseless country.  We should not have sent soldiers in Iraq in the first place for two reasons: 1) We are still in the middle of a civil war against extremists and guerilla groups and, 2) We definitely do not have the resources.  
Let's leave it to the rich countries to fight the "oil wars".  They are the ones that will reap the benefits anyway.

Useless Fact About Me:  I'm a sucker for anything "retro". Particularly, Old Navy grapic T's.