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US May Use Philippine Role To Enhance Military In Southeast Asia
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| The US forces arrive in the Philippines |
MANILA, Jan. 31 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – American and Filipino military forces have launched joint exercises, signaled by Washington as a new phase in the so-called "war on terrorism". Diplomats and analysts said Thursday the U.S. may use its current anti-terror military deployment in the Philippines to realign its forces towards Southeast Asia, news agencies reported.
The exercises, which will reportedly involve 650 U.S. troops, including special forces, are being staged close to the stronghold of Abu Sayyaf, a group claiming to be working for an independent Islamic state in Southern Philippine, reported BBC’s online news service.
The majority of Muslims there reject the methods of the group. Washington claims, without evidence, Abu Sayyaf has links to Osama bin Laden.
Officially, the U.S. soldiers will have no combat role during their stay; however, there are misgivings in some quarters about where the military exercises might lead.
A ceremony at an air base in the southern town of Zamboanga marked the formal start of the joint exercises expected to last six months or even longer.
During that time, U.S. trainers, including some from the special forces, will be instructing their Filipino counterparts in the latest techniques and gadgetry of counter-terrorism. At least those are the declared goals of their mission, BBC reported.
Meanwhile, a European diplomat told AFP on Thursday that the joint military operations with the Philippines launched would give the Americans an opportunity to enhance their defense role in Southeast Asia.
"The realignment of U.S. defense capability to fill the gap in Southeast Asia will not be to display its military muscle but more to balance its forces for more efficient deployment between the Arabian Gulf and western coast of the United States," he said.
The United States, which will deploy some 650 of its troops for the six-month joint operations, should be able to set up an efficient "reconditioning and logistic support" network in the Philippines within that period, diplomats and analysts said, AFP reported.
Apart from the southern city of Zamboanga, which is the nerve center of operations against rebels, U.S. military infrastructure and air facilities are also being beefed up in central Cebu and the Clark air base. The two governments are also negotiating a mutual logistics support agreement.
"What the U.S. needs is capability to station its military aircraft and vessels for a short while for reconditioning purposes and the Philippines is a very ideal spot," the same diplomat said.
"The current balance of U.S. forces is centered on the triangle around Hawaii, Guam as well as Japan and South Korea. With facilities in the Philippines, there will be considerable economy of time or freedom to take action to stabilize any uncertainty," he said.
According to CNN, critics say they fear the U.S. troops are merely the thin end of the wedge leading to a permanent American military presence in the country.
The constitutional legality of the American military deployment has been fiercely debated among Philippine lawmakers and several protests have been held outside
the U.S. embassy in Manila.
Robert Broadfoot - managing director of Hong Kong-based think tank Political and Economic Risk Consultancy - was confident that if there was a pressing need for American military presence in the region, the United States would be able to use facilities of friendly Southeast Asian countries.
"As the situation in Afghanistan showed, Pakistan was willing to help. If there was a similar situation in Southeast Asia, I'll bet some government will offer assistance. For example, it could be the Philippines, Singapore or Thailand depending on the situation," he said.
However, Broadfoot stressed that the current American military deployment in the Philippines would be crucial in demonstrating "whether such kind of intervention will be a stabilizing or destabilizing for the region."
"This is a unique role for the United States because as far as I can remember there hasn't been quick, clean victories where U.S. intervention has been limited to training and advice," he noted.
Within the same context, BBC reported that critics say Washington's objectives are more insidious and that the presence of foreign forces violates the Philippine constitution. "They [Filipino forces] will do the fighting, not the American soldiers," President Gloria Arroyo said during a visit to Canada this week.
Protests against U.S. presence in Philippines have been confined to the capital so far. On Wednesday, several dozen students burnt a U.S. flag outside the U.S. embassy in Manila.
One undeclared goal of the Americans is likely to be the liberation of an American couple kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf last May.
They are being held in the rugged island of Basilan, where U.S. combat techniques are likely to be put to a stern test in conditions that, for some observers, are uncomfortably reminiscent of the Vietnam war.
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