Presence of US troops in Philippine combat zones slammed

It is hard to imagine a location less likely to avoid conflict than Sulu and it even seems that the US is leading the AFP into battle so to speak--or ambushes perhaps!


Presence of US troops in combat zones slammed



08/16/2007

Photos and reports of armed American troops in Philippine combat zones leading the fight against Muslim insurgents have raised the hackles of militants and opposition leaders, with Makati City Mayor and United Opposition president Jejomar Binay yesterday questioning the presence of the US troops in Sulu at a time of conflict.

Reports said US soldiers led convoys of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in known combat zones in Mindanao, and Binay stressed that the presence of foreign troops is highly disturbing and irregular.

The US Embassy also yesterday maintained that American troops are not involved in combat operations against the Muslim rebels in Sulu, with Embassy Counselor for Public Affairs Lee McClenny insisting that the “US troops have no combat role” but “will retaliate if fired upon.”

US troops are in Jolo at the invitation of the Philippine government since 2001. “They advise, assist, share information with the AFP and cooperate on civil military projects,” Clenny said in a text message.

Although they are not engaged in actual combat operations, he explained that the US soldiers stay in Philippine military bases and travel with AFP convoys.

The deployment of US Special Forces troops in Sulu was photographed by global wire

service Agence France Presse.

The news service reported that US troops were aboard a Humvee armored jeep as two US soldiers manned a vehicle with a top-mounted machine-gun. The US soldiers’ helmets bore miniature US flags.

Foreign troops are prohibited under the Constitution to engage in combat operation in the country.

Manila has a Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with Washington, but the accord only governs the entry and exit of US forces engaging in military exercises with their Filipino counterparts in the Philippines.

But Binay retorted: “But they (US troops) are entering combat zones and the chances of their being fired upon, especially if they are leading the convoys, are very, very high,” adding that the involvement of US troops in the conflict in Mindanao reflects the incapacity of the Arroyo government to handle the situation in Sulu.

“It is a sad commentary on the state of the military’s preparedness under the Arroyo administration, that it is apparently subcontracting the job of leading the fight against Muslim insurgents to the Americans,” he said.

The mayor said it appears the Arroyo administration is ill-prepared and cannot finish the war it started. He said the Filipino soldiers staking their lives and fighting in Sulu are the ones paying for the administration’s folly.

Lawyer Harry Roque, Director of the Institute of International Legal Studies of the University of the Philippines Law Center yesterday also asked the government take steps not to internationalize the armed conflict in Basilan and Sulu.

Roque, who is also the first Asian Counsel in the International Criminal Court at the Hague said: “If the news report from Agence France Press that American troops are operating in the battlefronts of Mindanao is true, then the Philippines should have very serious reasons to be alarmed. First, because, this is expressly prohibited by the transitory provisions of the Constitution on the presence of foreign troops.

Second, and more important, an American involvement in the Mindanao conflict would “internationalize” the conflict in the same manner that the conflict in the former Yugoslavia became internationalized. This would have two very important consequences: one, the provisions of the Geneva Conventions may become the applicable law which would accord fighters from the MILF “combatant” status and hence, entitle them to enjoy criminal immunity for their participation in the armed conflict; and two, even more important, this may lead to a regional armed conflict when and if Islamic nations decide to come to the military assistance of the MILF”.

Roque also underscored the need for all combatants to abide at all times with the provisions of International Humanitarian Law applicable to non-international conflicts which enjoins combatants, from both the AFP and the MILF, from targeting civilians and other protected person; and from resorting to prohibited means and methods of warfare, including all inhumane acts such as beheadings. “Combatants from both sides should be reminded that their violations of IHL would be the basis for their criminal prosecution not only in the Philippines , but in any court in this planet. This possibility also is never subject to prescription”, Roque stressed.

The military admitted that there is a group of American soldiers who are in the war-torn province of Sulu but only to conduct an on-sight survey as a possible venue for the next RP-US joint Balikatan military exercises.

AFP public information office (PIO) chief Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro said that the US servicemen who are now in Sulu will not be involved in combat operations against the remaining forces of the Abu Sayyaf Group and other lawless elements in the area.

“The purpose of their mission is to conduct a site survey. They are trying to determine in which areas where they can construct Baliktan related projects,” he said.

Bacarro added that the US servicemen involved in the Balikatan exercises provide the AFP some assistance in the form of technical intelligence to be able to track down the whereabouts of the Abu Sayyaf elements and other terrorist groups operating in the Sulu province.“Definitely no combat (mission for the US troops),” he said, but refused to diclose details on the number of US troops in Sulu.

Militant groups and their representatives in Congress yesterday expressed concern and opposition on the direct involvement of US military forces in combat operations in Sulu and Basilan.

“While the high court decision upholding the constitutionality of the VFA insofar as joint military exercises are concerned, it explicitly prohibits US military forces from joining the Armed Forces of the Philippines in combat operations,” said Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo.

He also raised a pointed question at the Arroyo administration in relation to foreign military intervention and aid and the inability of the government troops to gain ground in Mindanao . “What has happened to the vaunted US intelligence work and training for Philippine troops?” Ocampo asked.

Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran called for a probe into the presence of American troops in Sulu and their possible participation in the campaign against the Abu Sayyaf.

Beltran is set to file a resolution on this and seek clarification into the alleged deployment of US troops in the combat zones. “How far will the US military command in the Philippines and the AFP stretch the excuse that the American troops are only here to offer assistance and not participate in the combat operations?” he asked.

Beltran also concluded that if an American soldier would be wounded or killed, more US troops will be deployed to avenge his death – a “situation that could easily get out of hand.”

In a related development, elite Philippine troops trained by US special forces began arriving in Jolo Wednesday as the hunt for Muslim insurgents intensified in the restive south of the country.

More than 100 Philippine Scout Rangers arrived and headed to the west coast town of Indanan in Jolo , close to where 26 soldiers were killed in separate ambushes last week.

Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf, responsible for some of the country’s worst terrorist attacks, and members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) were said to have been behind the ambushes.

The Scout Rangers are joining some 5,000 troops already on the island, where US special forces teams are claimed to also be working as advisors to the Philippine military.

Maj. Gen. Ruben Rafael, head of a task force fighting the militants, said “rogue MNLF forces and their Abu Sayyaf cohorts” were mobile and evading combat with the Philippine troops.

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro again stressed that military operations in Jolo and nearby Basilan island were 14 marines were killed and 10 of them beheaded would not upset the 10 year peace accord with the MNLF.

The MNLF signed a peace accord with Manila in 1996, ending their decades-long struggle for a separate Islamic state in the southern part of the largely Christian country.

The Abu Sayyaf, which has been linked by the United States to the al-Qaeda network, is not part of any peace accord with the Manila government. With Michaela P. del Callar, Gina Peralta Elorde, Rommel Lontayao, Charlie V. Manalo and AFP