Manila, April 30 (RHC)-- U.S. President Barack Obama has wrapped up his tour of Asia with a stop in the Philippines. Speaking in Manila, Obama issued a defense of his overall foreign policy, saying his critics had failed to learn from what he called the "disastrous decision" to invade Iraq.

Obama said: "Typically, criticism of our foreign policy has been directed at the failure to use military force. And the question I think I would have is, why is it that everybody is so eager to use military force after we’ve just gone through a decade of war at enormous costs to our troops and to our budget?"

In the Philippines, Obama was met by hundreds of protesters angered by a 10-year pact to revive the U.S. military presence in the Philippines. The deal arrives more than 20 years after popular protests forced the U.S. to leave its bases.

On Monday, protesters destroyed the barrier outside the presidential palace and burned effigies of Obama and Philippine President Benigno Aquino.