Posted on 03/01/2003 2:41:02 PM PST by a_Turk
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - (KRT) - Before Friday's announcement that deployment of U.S. troops to help eradicate the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group has been postponed, mortar shells knocked out electricity for 18 million people on Mindanao.
The destruction of pylons and a key power transmission station, allegedly by Islamic militants, may have been a signal that the government may be dealing with more than a ragtag kidnap for ransom gang.
In an announcement coinciding with the postponement, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo gave her armed forces a 90-day deadline to wipe out the remnants of the Abu Sayyaf and at the same time told Muslim insurgents on Mindanao to make peace or face military action.
In Washington, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld acknowledged Friday night that the operation had been postponed. "We will have to find an approach that will help them without violating their constitution," he said.
News of the deployment of U.S. combat troops to the lawless Sulu islands, where families settle feuds with gunfights, revived old tribal boasts to behead invaders, especially Americans. It also has split the Filipino public.
"In Sulu they don't sing lullabies to our babies," warned Parouk Hussin, governor of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao and a former separatist leader. "What they sing to our babies is that they must grow up to be brave warriors bringing death to our enemies."
No one here forgets.
"People do remember how their ancestors were killed by American soldiers," said Micahel Matura, a historian who follows the Moros, as Muslims in Mindanao are called. "People today are afraid there will be more killings of civilians."
U.S. troops under Gen. John Pershing were sent to subdue islanders shortly after the Philippines became a U.S. possession in 1898. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, were killed.
Officially, about 1,700 Marines and Special Forces soldiers operating mainly from Navy ships were to be deployed to help the Philippine army hunt down Abu Sayyaf guerrillas. The group, which has a core of 250 fighters, has specialized in snatching foreigners from beach resorts for ransom. Some of the ransom would be distributed to the locals, gaining their loyalty.
Derided by some as merely a gang of bandits, Abu Sayyaf is so small and its whereabouts so elusive that locals wonder why the U.S. has even considered sending troops to fight it.
However, Abu Sayyaf has been linked to al-Qaida.
Having been driven off Basilan island by Philippine troops with the help of the U.S. Special Forces, Abu Sayyaf's core fighters are holed up on heavily forested Jolo island.
Time has stood still on Jolo, historically the archipelago's most formidable Muslim stronghold. Pershing crushed a Muslim uprising there.
Most of the island's people have no modern conveniences like electricity, television or toilets. Most water comes from communal wells. Roads are unpaved, and villages and towns are run by datus, local potentates whose power is reminiscent of the pashas of Turkey and the caliphs of old Arabia.
Jolo has been off-limits for most foreigners. It is a place where visitors need an armed escort or good friends, and the army says 30,000 unlicensed weapons are in circulation. For years ships have been warned to avoid the Sulu Sea and places like Jolo, reportedly rife with pirates.
"You don't know who is your friend, who is your enemy," one Philippine army officer said. "The man tilling his fields in the daytime may pick up a rifle at night and stage an ambush."
The Moros complain that Manila has exploited Mindanao's rich resources, among them minerals and timber. No money was reinvested in Mindanao, still one of the nation's most impoverished regions.
The latest government peace initiative fell flat last month, when Philippine troops overran the main stronghold of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the largest of the four Moro separatist groups in central Mindanao.
The front said the assault violated a cease-fire with the government. Their leader, Hashim Salamat, has called for all-out jihad against "the enemy," although he did not specify who the enemy was. The Philippine army said the front has provided a hide-out for the Pentagon Muslim gang, which is notorious for kidnapping local Christian businessmen.
On Jolo, as in Manila and on Mindanao, the idea of a new U.S. presence has provoked mixed reactions.
Some Muslims see U.S. troops as instruments of peace and modernization if they come as non-combatants. Others contend deployment would be part of a crusade against Islam or a ploy to control the region's resources.
While the vast majority of Filipinos are anxious to eradicate gangs like Abu Sayyaf, they also fear the manhunt could expand into the rest of this staunchly Catholic nation.
Sen. Aquilino Pimentel warned that any agreement to involve U.S. troops in fighting on Mindanao is part of a plan for a prolonged U.S. military presence in the Philippines - 12 years after the Philippine Senate refused to renew the leases on U.S. bases there.
"It would be a Vietnam reincarnated in Sulu," he said.
They had better figure that one out and quickly!
Boy ain't it the truth. It will be too late once the militant Muslims cut off their heads and bury their bodies in a hole filled with maggots. These people are unbelievably stupid. Reminds me of Hollywood.
You are absolutely right. We shouldn't be physically involved in that situation. The Philippinos may want to take some pointers from Peru how to deal with homicidal gangs.
EEEYYUCK! I understand your feelings but did you have to tell me so graphically? I don't have a problem with your reply but when you mentioned Hollywood I got a mite bit queasy!
Good. Maybe they haven't learned their lesson and need a refresher course - - OR - - the government of the Phillipines would rather surrender to the terrorists, in which case, they become the 'axis of evil' and we invade you anyway.
Pick one.
We went their as advisors, but would up as playing Santa Claus, handing out money and equipment to the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and building roads and hospitals for the locals. Important work, to be sure, but it had very little to do with advising. They certainly showed no interest in fighting the Abu Sayyaf group.
Don't confuse these people with the New People's Army, the communist insurgents up north. The Moros have been struggling for independence since Spanish rule, but only recently have they turned to international terror groups for help. By their own admission they are tied to both Al Qaeda and Iraq. We know that they have been involved in plots to blow up American airliners, kidnap and execute our citizens, and provide cover and aid to terrorist groups.
The MILF should be handled by the Philippine government, as they will negotiate, and have abided by cease fires and agreements in the past. Abu Sayyaf will make no deals, and they won't stop until every one of them is dead. The Phils are not capable of taking them out themselves.
Some have attempted to debunk this theory, but there is still a slight possibility that it is true.
You have identified three (?)separate insurgencies: the New Peoples Army, Abu Sayyaf, and the Moros. The Moros as you state, are a century old Muslim rebellion, aimed at independence. Abu Sayyaf the local Al Qada franchise. From your posting, Al Qada is assisting both the MLIF and Abu Sayyef. It is Abu Sayyaf which is the target of our assistance to the Filippinos, as you state. A separate group is the New Peoples Army. If I have my facts straight, it is this group which the government has been at war with for many years, going back to Marcos' government.
Colonel Gadhaffi of Libya was providing assistance to terrorists in the Philippines back in the 70s. It was a Muslim group; I'm not certain where in this grouping they belong.
This article indicates that our troops will engage the Moros, which for reasons of historical animosity, I am opposed. As you state, the Filippinos can deal with them.
You have identifed the Moros as the group which, with the assistance of Al Qada, plotted attacks against the U.S. So Ramsi Yousef was involved with the Moros, not Abu Sayyef in plotting Project Bojoinka ? I had understood otherwise, but admittedly it is complex. Or is Abu Sayyef a subset of the Moros ?
Thanks for the clarification that we were "assisting" not "advising". Do we have Special Forces there ? Does training the local Filippinos fall under assisting ?
This inquiring mind wants to know. Thanks.
New People's Army: Communist insurgents, mostly fighting up north against the government. Due to the promises of socialist equality, they have been traditionally very succesful in luring in poor people to fight for them. Currently in a long cease fire, not involved with international terrorism.
Moro Islamic Liberation Front (at www.luwaran.com): A Mindinao based group that parted with the Moro National Liberation Front due to religious differences (both are Islamic, but MILF more so, and desires Sharia). Around 15k strong, they are the largest of the Moro groups, led by a diehard cleric Salamat Hashim, (basically their version of Mullah Omar). They are well armed, but have been mostly peaceful, and view their struggle as one of defense and resistance. They were in peace talks and cease fire with the government until being attacked last month, and have been on the defensive ever since. Ties to international terrorism are minor at best.
Abu Sayyaf Group: A brutal gang (500 or so strong) of pirates, kidnappers, and terrorists, they are a splinter group of the MILF, unwelcome because of their advocacy of any means necessary to succeed. They kidnap and ransom to raise money, and then use that money to buy arms and explosives. They are mostly centered in the Sulu Archipelago, and are mostly from the Tausug people, who inhabit the islands. They claim strong ties to both local military leaders (who they pay off with a cut of the ransom money for their own freedom), Al Qaeda (who they assisted in a plot to destroy 11 U.S. airliners over the Pacific at once) and Iraq (who they accepted to kill U.S. soldiers for bounty money, per head). They do not wish to negotiate with the governement.
Out of all these groups, the U.S. military was being sent to deal with the last. The Philippine government has been unable to deal with them, and they have been growing steadily stronger. They are not a political faction vieing for independence, like the MILF or the NPA, resorting to violence only when needed. They are a radical terrorist group that targets civilians, especially Americans, and has chosen to associate with the worst elements abroad. I agree with you assessment that we shouldn't get involved in other people's insurgencies (a la MILF or NPA) but I think that these guys would be worth our effort to clear out.
All is clear as a bell now.
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