Summary: US Anti-Terror Operations in the Philippines
Martin Wagener
In 1898 Spain ceded the Philippines to the USA who, in 1935, granted Manila the status of an Autonomous Commonwealth Territory of the USA that ten years later led to its independence. The outbreak of World War II had delayed the project at first, so that it was not until 1946 that the Philippines gained independence. During the Cold War the USA integrated the Philippines into its alliance system and signed an assistance pact as well as an agreement covering the use of military bases in the Philippines. Both treaties held until 1991.
When the Philippine Senate did not extend the treaties in 1991, the USA closed its bases completing its withdrawal in 1992. Since then securitypolitical cooperation has decreased and doubts as to the use of the assistance pact in the event of an outbreak of crisis have surfaced. The USA and the Philippines share the interest of keeping China’s influence in South-East Asia within limits, which, though not explicitly mentioned, might be the underlying intent behind the recent strengthening of the cooperation between Washington and Manila within the framework of fighting terrorism.
The cooperation in the fight on terror had already been intensified before September 11, 2001 and was aimed against the Islamist rebel group Abu Sayyaf which in the meantime seems to have less interest in founding a fundamentalist state than extracting ransom money. Be that as it may, the USA has provided a package of military support measures to the amount of USD 92.3 million. Core part of this agreement with Washington were the combined maneuvers "BALIKATAN 2002-01” that were conducted from February through July 2002 and served the purpose of training 3,800 Philippine soldiers with the help of US military advisers.
While during Phase I the soldiers were trained at Philippine military bases, Phase II was a campaign against Abu Sayyaf, under the advice of US Special Forces. Aside from that, a number of smaller combined maneuvers were conducted, which may be regarded as preparation for the second round of the antiterror operation. However, once it became known that, contrary to last year’s maneuver, this time American Soldiers would directly participate in the fights, "BALIKATAN 2003-01” planned for 2003 immediately got under attack by the opposition.
While the operation against Abu Sayyaf is believed to have substantially weakened the rebel group, new adversaries have come up - the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Jemaah Islamiya. Particularly the latter seems to pose a serious threat, as it wants to establish an Islamic state comprised of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the southern part of the Philippines and is closely cooperating with Al Qaeda. Other potential adversaries are the Maoist New People’s Army and splinter groups with ties to international terrorism.
While the Philippine Constitution of 1987 clearly rules out a return of US military forces to Philippine bases, security cooperation as in the "BALIKATAN” maneuvers were found to be in line with the constitution by the Constitutional Court. Washington and Manila seem to be tightening their security cooperation under the umbrella of the war on terror. Recently the chiefs of staff of both countries signed a logistics treaty aimed at improving interoperability, operational readiness, and effectiveness of the forces by means of strengthening logistical cooperation. Thereby the Philippines were strategically upgraded and might indeed even gain in importance, should Washington find itself confronted with a conflict between North and South Korea or between Taiwan and the Peoples’ Republic of China in East Asia.
Ihre Meinung/your opinion/votre opinion:
