U.S.-Philippine Command May Signal War's Next Phase
eric schmitt | 16.01.2002 16:57
In the first major expansion of the war on terrorism, American and Philippine military officers in Manila began preparing joint operations today against a Muslim extremist group linked to Al Qaeda in the southern Philippines.
U.S.-Philippine Command May Signal War's Next Phase
By ERIC SCHMITT
ASHINGTON, Jan. 15 -- In the first major expansion of the war on terrorism, American and Philippine military officers in Manila began preparing joint operations today against a Muslim extremist group linked to Al Qaeda in the southern Philippines.
An American advance team is on the ground, and officials today created a joint command for the mission. The bulk of the 650-member American force, including 160 Special Operations troops trained in counterterrorism, is expected to be sent this month to train and advise 1,200 Philippine Army soldiers in how to destroy Abu Sayyaf, a terrorist group that is holding hostages, including two Americans.
Sending the United States troops to the southern island of Mindanao, which is near Basilan Island, Abu Sayyaf's base, would mark the largest single deployment of American military might outside Afghanistan to fight terrorists since the Sept. 11 attacks. And it is a further sign that the Philippines may well become the site of the war's next phase.
Having set aside targets like Iraq, at least for now, American officials are working with friendly governments like the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia that are seeking help in stamping out terrorism within their borders. American special operations forces have played a critical role in Afghanistan, calling in airstrikes, assisting anti-Taliban forces and, in some case, engaging in direct combat. But they will have a more circumscribed role in the Philippines.
Though the American forces are expected to be involved initially only in assisting and training Philippine troops, they will also accompany them on patrol in rebel areas, will be armed and will be authorized to fire in self-defense. They could become involved in offensive military action if the Manila government requested it, officials said, though that would require a change in the Philippine Constitution.
"It is not a modest number," Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said today, describing the size of the American contingent to a group of radio reporters. "But it is a group of people that are going to be with the Philippine forces for the purpose of training."
Mr. Rumsfeld said military support troops, including logistics and medical specialists, would take part in an effort that formally begins next month. A senior military official said the number of American forces could increase, depending on how the campaign progresses.
Pentagon officials have been loath to describe highly classified details of the mission, but there have been clear hints in recent days that the United States and its longtime ally, the Philippines, are joining in a major effort to wipe out what they consider to be a dangerous terrorist cell in Southeast Asia.
The Abu Sayyaf group has as many as 2,000 members, some of whom have trained in Afghanistan, and is fighting to establish an Islamic state in the southern Philippines. About 5,000 Philippine troops have been fighting the rebels for months.
The group has conducted bombings, killings and a multitude of kidnappings for ransom, using the money to buy weapons and speedboats. It is holding hostage an American missionary couple, Martin and Gracia Burnham of Rose Hill, Kan., and a Filipina nurse in the jungles of Basilan Island.
United States and Philippine forces conduct annual training exercises. But in the aftermath of the attacks on Sept. 11, this year's operation ˜ called "Balikatan" or "Shouldering the Load Together" ˜ is much different in size, scope and location.
More American troops, especially Special Operations forces like Navy Seals and Army Green Berets, are involved than in previous years.
In a sign of the importance the Pentagon is putting on the mission, the American commander is Brig. Gen. Donald C. Wurster of the Air Force, the head of all Special Operations forces in the Pacific. General Wurster is a former commander of the Air Force's elite 16th Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field in Florida.
The operation, which Filipino officials are careful to call an "exercise" to avoid inflaming domestic sensitivities to a large American military presence, is expected to last through June, or possibly the end of the year, officials said.
The Philippine president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, has walked a political tightrope at home, welcoming American military help in defeating a deadly foe, but careful not to aggravate the same tensions that led to the United States' being forced out of major bases in the country, like the Subic Bay naval base.
A presidential spokesman, Rigoberto Tiglao, said using foreign troops for combat in the Philippines would violate the country's Constitution. The American troops "can only take an expanded role in the sense that they can go to an advanced post to observe our operations, but definitely no combat role," he said.
Philippine military officials have also said they expect shipments of small arms from the Pentagon, and the arrival of at least eight UH-1H Huey helicopters from the United States that would be equipped with night-flying equipment.
"We are not butting into their sovereignty," said Representative Porter J. Goss, a Florida Republican who heads the House Intelligence Committee. "But we are trying to help them in their effort to stamp out blatant terrorism."
Pentagon officials say they are working closely with Philippine officials in the war on terrorists. "There's no question that we believe that if they could clear the Abu Sayyaf group out of Basilan Island, that would be a small blow against an extended Al Qaeda network," Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz said in a recent interview.
But Mr. Wolfowitz said the Manila government is "very anxious to do it themselves," adding, "That's the sort of crucial standard for anything, if they would ask for anything, we would do for them."
Meantime, the fight against terrorists in Afghanistan continued today. American soldiers uncovered a cache of weapons hidden near the airport in Kandahar, while the local Afghan militia continued to hunt down Taliban officials and Al Qaeda fighters who fled as the city fell to anti-Taliban forces last month.
The weapons, including rocket- propelled grenades, were found in buildings and tunnels about 300 yards from the edge of the airport after a group of men were seen in the area Monday evening, Capt. Daniel Greenwood, a military spokesman, said at a news briefing on Tuesday.
While weapons are no longer carried openly in Kandahar by people other than the anti-Taliban militia, few have been surrendered to the fledgling government there, and many are believed to be hidden in the city and surrounding towns.
On Sunday, two heavily armed senior Taliban commanders who worked under Kandahar's Taliban police chief, Hafaz Majeed, were arrested in Maiwand, a town to the west of Kandahar on the road to Helmand Province, an anti-Taliban military official said today.
Muhammad Zali, a commander under Kandahar's current anti-Taliban governor, Gul Agha Shirzai, said his troops had seized the two Taliban officials without a fight at a home in Sangisar, a district of Maiwand.
In London today, British officials turned aside accusations by human rights groups, lawyers and members of Parliament that the treatment of terror suspects being transported to the American military base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, violated international standards.
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw conceded that the men ˜ at least three of whom say they are British ˜ had not been formally charged. But he said they were considered a threat since they were thought to be members of Al Qaeda.
By ERIC SCHMITT
ASHINGTON, Jan. 15 -- In the first major expansion of the war on terrorism, American and Philippine military officers in Manila began preparing joint operations today against a Muslim extremist group linked to Al Qaeda in the southern Philippines.
An American advance team is on the ground, and officials today created a joint command for the mission. The bulk of the 650-member American force, including 160 Special Operations troops trained in counterterrorism, is expected to be sent this month to train and advise 1,200 Philippine Army soldiers in how to destroy Abu Sayyaf, a terrorist group that is holding hostages, including two Americans.
Sending the United States troops to the southern island of Mindanao, which is near Basilan Island, Abu Sayyaf's base, would mark the largest single deployment of American military might outside Afghanistan to fight terrorists since the Sept. 11 attacks. And it is a further sign that the Philippines may well become the site of the war's next phase.
Having set aside targets like Iraq, at least for now, American officials are working with friendly governments like the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia that are seeking help in stamping out terrorism within their borders. American special operations forces have played a critical role in Afghanistan, calling in airstrikes, assisting anti-Taliban forces and, in some case, engaging in direct combat. But they will have a more circumscribed role in the Philippines.
Though the American forces are expected to be involved initially only in assisting and training Philippine troops, they will also accompany them on patrol in rebel areas, will be armed and will be authorized to fire in self-defense. They could become involved in offensive military action if the Manila government requested it, officials said, though that would require a change in the Philippine Constitution.
"It is not a modest number," Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said today, describing the size of the American contingent to a group of radio reporters. "But it is a group of people that are going to be with the Philippine forces for the purpose of training."
Mr. Rumsfeld said military support troops, including logistics and medical specialists, would take part in an effort that formally begins next month. A senior military official said the number of American forces could increase, depending on how the campaign progresses.
Pentagon officials have been loath to describe highly classified details of the mission, but there have been clear hints in recent days that the United States and its longtime ally, the Philippines, are joining in a major effort to wipe out what they consider to be a dangerous terrorist cell in Southeast Asia.
The Abu Sayyaf group has as many as 2,000 members, some of whom have trained in Afghanistan, and is fighting to establish an Islamic state in the southern Philippines. About 5,000 Philippine troops have been fighting the rebels for months.
The group has conducted bombings, killings and a multitude of kidnappings for ransom, using the money to buy weapons and speedboats. It is holding hostage an American missionary couple, Martin and Gracia Burnham of Rose Hill, Kan., and a Filipina nurse in the jungles of Basilan Island.
United States and Philippine forces conduct annual training exercises. But in the aftermath of the attacks on Sept. 11, this year's operation ˜ called "Balikatan" or "Shouldering the Load Together" ˜ is much different in size, scope and location.
More American troops, especially Special Operations forces like Navy Seals and Army Green Berets, are involved than in previous years.
In a sign of the importance the Pentagon is putting on the mission, the American commander is Brig. Gen. Donald C. Wurster of the Air Force, the head of all Special Operations forces in the Pacific. General Wurster is a former commander of the Air Force's elite 16th Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field in Florida.
The operation, which Filipino officials are careful to call an "exercise" to avoid inflaming domestic sensitivities to a large American military presence, is expected to last through June, or possibly the end of the year, officials said.
The Philippine president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, has walked a political tightrope at home, welcoming American military help in defeating a deadly foe, but careful not to aggravate the same tensions that led to the United States' being forced out of major bases in the country, like the Subic Bay naval base.
A presidential spokesman, Rigoberto Tiglao, said using foreign troops for combat in the Philippines would violate the country's Constitution. The American troops "can only take an expanded role in the sense that they can go to an advanced post to observe our operations, but definitely no combat role," he said.
Philippine military officials have also said they expect shipments of small arms from the Pentagon, and the arrival of at least eight UH-1H Huey helicopters from the United States that would be equipped with night-flying equipment.
"We are not butting into their sovereignty," said Representative Porter J. Goss, a Florida Republican who heads the House Intelligence Committee. "But we are trying to help them in their effort to stamp out blatant terrorism."
Pentagon officials say they are working closely with Philippine officials in the war on terrorists. "There's no question that we believe that if they could clear the Abu Sayyaf group out of Basilan Island, that would be a small blow against an extended Al Qaeda network," Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz said in a recent interview.
But Mr. Wolfowitz said the Manila government is "very anxious to do it themselves," adding, "That's the sort of crucial standard for anything, if they would ask for anything, we would do for them."
Meantime, the fight against terrorists in Afghanistan continued today. American soldiers uncovered a cache of weapons hidden near the airport in Kandahar, while the local Afghan militia continued to hunt down Taliban officials and Al Qaeda fighters who fled as the city fell to anti-Taliban forces last month.
The weapons, including rocket- propelled grenades, were found in buildings and tunnels about 300 yards from the edge of the airport after a group of men were seen in the area Monday evening, Capt. Daniel Greenwood, a military spokesman, said at a news briefing on Tuesday.
While weapons are no longer carried openly in Kandahar by people other than the anti-Taliban militia, few have been surrendered to the fledgling government there, and many are believed to be hidden in the city and surrounding towns.
On Sunday, two heavily armed senior Taliban commanders who worked under Kandahar's Taliban police chief, Hafaz Majeed, were arrested in Maiwand, a town to the west of Kandahar on the road to Helmand Province, an anti-Taliban military official said today.
Muhammad Zali, a commander under Kandahar's current anti-Taliban governor, Gul Agha Shirzai, said his troops had seized the two Taliban officials without a fight at a home in Sangisar, a district of Maiwand.
In London today, British officials turned aside accusations by human rights groups, lawyers and members of Parliament that the treatment of terror suspects being transported to the American military base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, violated international standards.
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw conceded that the men ˜ at least three of whom say they are British ˜ had not been formally charged. But he said they were considered a threat since they were thought to be members of Al Qaeda.
eric schmitt
