Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte appeared to liken himself to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler on Friday and said he would "be happy" to exterminate 3 million drug users and peddlers in the country.
Duterte told reporters that he had been "portrayed to be a cousin of Hitler" by critics.
Noting that Hitler had murdered millions of Jews, Duterte said, "There are 3 million drug addicts (in the Philippines). I'd be happy to slaughter them.
"If Germany had Hitler, the Philippines would have ...," he said, pausing and pointing to himself.
"You know my victims. I would like (them) to be all criminals to finish the problem of my country and save the next generation from perdition."
The main point of the program Duterte, who was elected president in May this year, has been fighting crime in general and drug trafficking - in particular. He gave the police a "green light" to shoot (in the literal sense) of all known drug traffickers and their backers in government. The people he ordered to catch criminals and to give them to the police. In case of resistance - to kill on the spot. The highlight of the plan was a complete absence in it of any reference to justice, due process and such "nonsense", are used to in civilized countries.
In August, Duterte threatened to withdraw the Philippines from the United Nations after it called for an end to the killings.
In Washington, a State Department spokeswoman, Anna Richey-Allen, had repeated concerns about reports of extrajudicial killings but offered no response to Duterte's comment referring to Hitler.