Posted on 02/28/2002 11:52:58 PM PST by duck soup
Edited on 07/07/2004 4:48:15 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
SLAIN: The popular Alaskan was shot while hiking in the Philippines.
Most of Brian T. Smith's possessions fit into a couple of small storage units he kept in Sitka. But if someone needed anything of his, it was theirs.
Those who knew him even briefly found that out. Right down to the pilot who several years ago flew Smith and friend Jim Gillis to the White Mountains for a sheep-hunting trip. Not long after landing, the pilot decided it was too dark to fly, so despite being unprepared, he had to stay until light.
(Excerpt) Read more at adn.com ...
Other than Abu Sayyaf, has the United States listed any Philippine groups as terrorist organizations?
Yes. In December 2001, the State Department added the New People's Army, a communist rebel group active in the northern Philippine Islands, to a list of terrorist groups whose members should be denied U.S. visas. But the New People's Army, which attacked U.S. military personnel and installations before the closure of U.S. bases in the Philippines in 1992, is not on the Bush administration's main post-September 11 list of terrorist organizations, and its assets have not been frozen. The United States does not consider the MNLF or the MILF to be terrorist organizations.
Why Not?
TUMANGGI kahapon ang Philippine Army (PA) na isangkot ang anumang grupo sa pagbaril sa US Air Force MC-130 H troops noong Huwebes habang nagsasanay sa Northern Luzon. Sa isang panayam sa telepono, sinabi ng tagapagsalita ng Army na si Lt. Col. Jose Mabanta na mahirap tukuyin kung anong grupo ang responsable sa pag-atake dahil lahat ay may kakayahang gawin ito. Nauna nang inamin ni Mabanta na may mga lugar sa Northern Luzon na pinagkukutaan ng New People's Army (NPA).
"You know the C-130 (incident), I think it would be hard to prove (that it was the NPA that was responsible) because anybody can do that," sabi ni Mabanta sa interbyu.
Kaugnay nito, itinanggi ng NPA na sangkot sila sa insidente. Ayon sa inisyal na ulat, kabilang ang naturang aircraft sa nagaganap na joint military exercise ng RP at US troops na tinawag na Balanced Pisto. Bukod ito sa Balikatan exercise na isinasagawa sa Southern Mindanao upang tugisin ang Abu Sayyaf.
"How can they crush (the US troops), the only thing that they are able to hit are far flung detachments and barangay. Those are their only targets and they can only do that through deceit and while our backs are turned," ayon kay Mabanta.
Tatlong delikadong opsiyon
Kung aatakehin pa ang US troops, may tatlong opsiyon si Arroyo-lahat ay masama sa kanyang pananaw. Una, maaari niyang kumbinsihin ang Washington na kayang talunin ng Philippine military ang potential aggressors bago maisip ng US forces na sumali sa laban. Pero, hindi nakaya ng kanyang military forces na talunin ang armed insurgencies noon kaya't kinakailangan ang training exercises para sa US forces.
Ikalawa, maaaring hilingin ni Arroyo na umalis ang US military kung magkakaroon ng kaguluhan. Pero, ang aksiyon na ito ay makasisira sa kanyang foreign, domestic at economic policies. Posibleng i-withdraw ang pangako ng Washington na $100 million na tulong, ang suporta sa Pangulo ay maaaring bumagsak dahil sa kabiguan na matupad ang layunin at patuloy na magiging banta ang Abu Sayyaf.
Ang huli, maaari niyang payagan ang US forces na makipaglaban upang idepensa ang kanilang sarili pero ang ibig sabihin ay sisirain niya ang kanyang pangako sa mamamayang Pilipino isang political suicide.
Noong Enero 31, isang US Air Force special forces MC-130 ang binaril ng dalawang ulit habang lumilipad nang mababa sa Luzon Island sa norte ng Pilipinas. Ang pag-atake sa aircraft na kasali sa counterterrorism exercise na tinaguriang "Balance Piston," ay nangyari isang araw makaraang ang 42-anyos na si Bryan Smith, isang Amerikano, ay na-ambush at pinatay habang nagha-hiking sa nasabi ring isla. Hindi lamang ang Balance Piston ang US military exercise sa Pilipinas.
Higit na kontrobersiyal ang "Balikatan," training mission upang tulungan ang Philippine military forces para labanan ang Muslim separatists sa timog. Nangako si Pangulong Arroyo na ang mga Amerikano ay Ngunit, sa banta ng mga Muslim separatists ang Abu Sayyaf at ang New People's Army, ang Maoist group laban sa US troops, posibleng idepensa ng mga Amerikano ang kanilang sarili. Bunsod nito, posibleng ang political fallout ang magiging dahilan ng pagbagsak ni Arroyo.
Maoists should have known better. Bush had better get tough with China
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