Zwarte Schaap
21-02-03, 19:15
VS sturen 1750 militairen naar zuiden Filipijnen
WASHINGTON (ANP) - Ongeveer 1750 Amerikaanse militairen gaan de Filipijnen bijstaan in een offensief tegen de islamitische beweging Abu Sayyaf. Dat heeft het ministerie van Defensie in Washington donderdag bekendgemaakt.
Hoe lang de operatie gaat duren, is niet bekend. In tegenstelling tot bij een zes maanden durende stationering vorig jaar zullen de Amerikaanse militairen zich niet beperken tot een adviserende rol, vertelden militaire woordvoerders aan de krant The New York Times. Zij gaan actief deelnemen aan de strijd, vertelde een woordvoerder van het ministerie van Defensie.
Het zou de eerste keer zijn dat Amerikaanse troepen op de Filipijnen rechtstreeks bij gevechten betrokken kunnen raken sinds de VS de Filipijnen vorig jaar gingen helpen met adviseurs.
De regering in Manilla heeft ontkend dat de Amerikanen zich in de strijd gaan mengen. Een woordvoerder van de Filipijnse regering zei dat er nog overleg gaande is over de precieze rol van de Amerikanen en dat er nog steeds een grondwettelijke verbod is op de deelname van buitenlandse militairen aan gevechtsoperaties.
Inderdaad het is vreselijk!
Er komen zomaar 1750 VS soldaten bij. De organisatie Abu-dinges is slechts een clubje liefhebbers van enkele tientallen die heel goed bezig zijn kwa terorrisme :)
En op de Molukken is het ook pais en vree met de onderlinge verstandhoudingen ;)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45290-2003Feb21.html
Why are we in Jolo?
IN THE PAST DECADE the United States has only twice sent ground troops into combat. The first instance, in Somalia, grew out of a humanitarian operation and ended abruptly with the first U.S. casualties. It also ended the career of the secretary of defense. The second, in Afghanistan, came in response to an attack on the United States, was approved by Congress and was thoroughly explained to the public by President Bush and his Cabinet. Over the years the threshold for putting U.S. soldiers at risk has sometimes seemed too high: Think of the Rwandan genocide or the Balkan wars. Yet now the country appears to be drifting toward the opposite extreme. On Thursday, via a series of background briefings by unnamed spokesmen, the Pentagon casually let the public know that it intends to dispatch 1,700 Special Forces and Marines for a combat mission against Muslim guerrillas in a remote and hostile corner of the Philippines. The first American soldiers are due to arrive within days, officials said; the term of the mission is open-ended. Though dwarfed, perhaps, by the scale of the impending war with Iraq, this sounds like a substantial and potentially treacherous campaign. Yet neither the president nor any senior official has explained to the country why young Americans might need to die for this new cause -- nor has Congress, which is on recess, discussed it. Whatever the merits of the Philippine operation, that is a bad start.
The administration's cavalier attitude may stem from the fact that this is the second U.S. military deployment to the Philippines since Sept. 11, 2001. Last year about 1,300 soldiers were dispatched to the island of Basilan to advise and train Philippine units fighting the Abu Sayyaf group, an Islamic extremist organization with several hundred followers that may have connections to al Qaeda. But by the Pentagon's own account, the new mission is qualitatively different. Instead of being bound by rules allowing them to fire only in self-defense, something that happened only once in the previous deployment, American soldiers reportedly will be joining Philippine units in combat operations. "The intent is for U.S. troops to actively participate," said one of the briefers. The terrain is also different -- Abu Sayyaf has moved from Basilan to the nearby island of Jolo, a tough and nearly lawless region. It's perhaps worth remembering that U.S. troops have already fought Muslim guerrillas on this ground, a century ago: The result was a bloody quagmire and damaging accusations of brutality by U.S. troops.
There may be a strong case for once again putting young Americans in harm's way in the Philippine jungle. Abu Sayyaf is unquestionably a ruthless terrorist organization, and though its connections to al Qaeda and its ability to threaten the United States are not clear, it is a menace to the democratic government of the Philippines. Though its spokesmen are publicly disputing the Pentagon's account of the role to be played by U.S. forces, the government of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo seems to have sought American assistance. By providing it, the Bush administration could help a key ally, deal a blow to terrorists and strengthen the U.S. ability to act against the larger threat of Islamic extremism in Southeast Asia. But the administration has not made that case, either to Congress or to the public. Nor has it explained what the costs of the intervention might be and what limits there might be to it. History shows that such limits are needed when the mission is counter-