Basilan: New American front vs terrorism

Basilan, an obscure poverty-stricken province in Southern Philippines, may soon be America's new front in her global war on terrorism, after Afghanistan.

Significant conditions are now present in the province sufficient to trigger the opening of this new war arena, as follows:

1. The presence of some 660 American troops -- 160 Green Berets/US Special Operations Group (SOG) are now in Basilan while the rest are in Cebu and neighboring Zamboanga acting as support groups -- under the so-called Balikatan 02-01, a joint RP/US military training exercises being conducted under the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) signed between the two countries;

2. American motivation to rescue the missionary couple hostages Martin and Gracia Burnhams and avenge the death of American tourist Guillermo Sobero who was reportedly beheaded last year by the terrorist kidnap-for-ransom group Abu Sayyaf;
   

3. The inclusion of the Abu Sayyaf in the US' list of groups with suspected links to Osama bin Laden and his global al-Qaeda network;
   Growing US congressional pressure on President George W. Bush to show proof of success and clear, justifiable directions in America's declared war on terrorism;
   

4. The free use of the country's air, sea and land spaces under the Terms of Reference (ToR) signed between the two countries that governs the Balikatan exercises;
   

5. The reported collusion between the Abu Sayyaf, the Pentagon group, the 12,500-man Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and remnants of the Misuari-MNLF (Moro National Liberation Front) faction; and,
   

6. Increasing violence in many parts of Mindanao by unknown lawless elements, including the emergence of the so-called Indigenous People's Federal Army (IPFA) -- a hitherto unknown group now terrorizing Metro Manila and parts of Mindanao planting dozens of bombs in public places -- as well as reported new kidnappings being resorted to by the traditional enemy of the state, the CPP-NPA-NDF.

Why Basilan and not Sulu, where the Abus and MNLF presence is also established? Because the Burnhams are still reportedly in Basilan. Also because the likelihood of ground encounters between government troops and the Abu Sayyaf is greater in Basilan --- where more troops are deployed by both parties. The military estimates that there are about 1,000 MILF and 80 Abu Sayyaf troops in Basilan alone, not counting even the presence of the MNLF-Misuari faction and Pentagon groups in the area.

What can trigger the expansion of such a new war front? The wounding or killing of JUST one US soldier, either by a confirmed Abu Sayyaf partisan or by any of the other rebel groups.

Since the devastating September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on New York and Washington DC, the Philippines has been a leading candidate as the next front in this war. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was one of the first heads of state to express unequivocal support for Mr. Bush's call for a global coalition against terrorism, particularly Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network. The highly contentious Visiting Forces Agreement signed between the two countries last year serves as the legal framework that justified the return of American forces to the Philippines since the termination in 1991 of the long-standing US-RP Military Bases Agreement, America's legacy in the Philippines since the end of the Pacific War and the Cold War era. But the yet existing Mutual Defense Treaty, also between the two countries -- another security- and military-related agreement binding the two governments -- could not be invoked (such military assistance exists only in case of an external attack on any of the parties), the holding of the joint military exercises became a most convenient and opportune time to simultaneously confront the country's pestering Abu Sayyaf problem. There is thus a clear confluence of interests between the two countries in this case.

To argue that US forces are in the Philippines purely for purposes of training our AFP on jungle or guerrilla warfare is to hide the fact that US troops are not really that "combat ready" in this type of battle. In America's war with Iraq (Gulf War), their military excursions in Mogadishu (Somalia), Kosovo, and now in Afghanistan, military encounters were conducted mostly through initial massive aerial bombings using sophisticated weapons of mass destruction, and then the subsequent landing of ground troops in a land-and-fly battle through the use of helicopters. In this type of war, ground combat zones were mostly located in cities and urban centers, not the kind of jungle and forested areas of Basilan. In America's more than two decades of "lost" was in Vietnam, Basilan's environment is similar or closer to what now awaits the US troops in the area.

Let us not kid ourselves by saying that American troops in Basilan are not programmed to be directly involved in any frontline encounters. It is claimed that they will only be supportive of our AFP, behind their lines, and will only fire their guns in "self-defense" in case of direct attack. In jungle or guerrilla battles, there is no such thing as pure self-defense, particularly so in an environment of forested terrain. Moreover, the joint US-RP troops now in Basilan are clearly in hot pursuit and are seeking the Abu's jungle lairs, presumably where the hostages are. It is patently the height of battle stupidity, if not plain naivete, to assume a position of self-defense (in case of attack) for American troops to limit themselves on. This claim defies rational principles of war known to mankind -- from Sun Tzu's classic "The Art of War," Clauswitz's prescriptions on capturing geo-political heartlands, Napoleon's military experiences in Europe, or even Mao Zedung's prescriptions for effective and successful guerrilla warfare.

Because under the ToR, American troops are free to bring in war-related cargoes -- firearms, bombs, missiles, service vehicles, intelligence-gathering unmanned planes (drones), choppers, etc. --- the Philippine military is in no position to determine beforehand, much less inspect at points of entry, if biological or chemical weapons have already been brought to our shores. Only when such gruesome weapons of mass destruction are applied in actual combat can we know of their presence. By then, however, poor Basilan province could already be a miniscule Vietnam, the most unfortunate scene of weapons application of America's continuing military research efforts.

Thus, we are seeing an expanding, and perhaps, fratricidal war in Mindanao --- with Basilan as the possible initial scene of battle. We hope we are proven wrong as we ourselves lament the shedding of more blood among Filipinos in America's current and determined global war against terrorism. *

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