The Philippines after 9-11: Focus on Mindanao as the Second Front of the US War on Terror

By Rep. Teddy A. Casino Bayan Muna Party List

Shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 bombing of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the United States government declared a borderless war on terror and led a coalition for the invasion of Afghanistan, the base of Osama Bin Ladens Al Qaeda organization. A few months after that, the Bush regime tagged the Abu Sayyaf in Mindanao as a terrorist group connected with Al-Qaeda and declared the Philippines, particularly Basilan, as its second front of its war on terror, with one Senator Sam Brownback even calling the Philippines the next target after Afghanistan. By February 2002, thousands of US troops began arriving in the Philippines to take part in a six-month joint military exercise dubbed Balikatan. Of these, 160 Special Operations Forces were sent to Basilan and 700 others to nearby Zamboanga City to engage in joint military training exercises with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). In the last week of July 2002, the International Solidarity Mission Against U.S. Armed Intervention in the Philippines (ISM) conducted fact-finding missions in Basilan, Zamboanga, General Santos and Manila and came up with undeniable proof that American soldiers took part in combat operations in Basilan. The ISM documented the involvement of at least two U.S. servicemen in the shooting and abduction of an unarmed civilian, Buyong-Buyong Isnijal, during a raid in his home in the midnight of July 25 as he was sleeping with his family. The ISM also discovered that U.S. troops would be stationed in the Philippines even after the Balikatan exercises on the pretext of continuing joint military training exercises. That was in 2002. Until now, US troops have never left Basilan, Sulu and the whole of Mindanao. Why is Mindanao and the Philippines in general so important for the US and its global war on terror, enough to qualify it as its second front? To answer this question, we should first be clear what the US war on terror is. In essence, the US-led war on terror is nothing but modern imperialist aggression masquerading as a crusade against evil. It is the ultimate pretext for the worlds number one superpower to wage what could be the biggest and most expensive war in history to further expand its markets, pump-prime its failing capitalist economy and impose its rule over the world. Anyone who gets in the way gets the shock and awe of his life.

This is accomplished by the following tools: unilateral and preemptive military strikes, shock and awe, regime change, torture, extraordinary rendition, forward deployment of troops, diplomatic hardball and development aid in the context of neoliberal economics and Western style democracy. The war on terror is not targeted at particular countries, although there is what George W. Bush calls the Axis of Evil. It is not even targeted at specific ideological, religious or political beliefs. It is targeted at anyone who does not share the United States governments reverence for the free market and for a republican democracy. In this war, anyone critical of the US is a potential terrorist. As Bush appropriately said it in one of his major post 9-11 speeches, Anyone who is not with us is against us. The war on terror is the other side of the coin of that equally disastrous and deceptive concept that we call globalization. Together, globalization and the war on terror give the US and its allies more lands to plunder and more people to exploit in the name of free trade and democracy. The Philippines has always been strategic for US imperialist projects in Asia and the Pacific. As a US colony and later a neocolony, we served as hosts to the biggest US military bases outside the mainland for almost 100 years, making us Americas military and political outpost in the region. On the economic aspect, the US has always been our number one trading partner, providing the worlds biggest economy with cheap raw materials, cheap English-speaking workers, and a captive dumping ground for finished products. With the end of the Cold War, the removal of the US military bases in the 1990s, and the phenomenon of imperialist globalization, there were those who thought we were in for some changes vis--vis our relationship with the US. The 9-11 event and the declaration of the global war on terror have shattered those illusions. It was after 9-11 that the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) was put to good use, starting with the Balikatan 2002 exercises. By August, the Mutual Logistics and Support Agreement (MLSA) was signed between Philippine and US defense officials, followed by the inclusion of the CPP, NPA and Prof. Jose Maria Sison in the US list of foreign terrorists. The latest development was the creation of a Security Engagement Board last year to address anti-terrorism and other military issues outside the purview of the Mutual Defense Treaty of 1951. But why Mindanao? As early as the debates leading up to the ratification of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) in 1999, various sources had already revealed that the US agenda was not so much their return to Subic and Clark but their setting up shop in Mindanao, particularly in General Santos City where, years earlier, US military contractors had already completed the construction of military-standard airport and seaport facilities. Mindanao is particularly important for Americas security interests, as it provides

them with a convenient and strategic outpost from which to project its military might in a region dominated by Muslim countries, particularly Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. The US sees this sub-region as the natural catch basin for the overflow of the militant Islamic movements in Central Asia. The US is particularly keen on militant movements here and have linked not only the Abu Sayyaf but the MILF and MNLF to the Jemayah Islamiyah, Osama Bin Laden and the Al-Qaeda. Mindanao is also home to the communist-led armed revolution. Many parts of Northern, Central and Southern Mindanao are known strongholds of the New People's Army. The CPP-NPA-NDF is, of course, a staunchly anti-imperialist armed movement and has particularly denounced US imperialism as among the country's three basic ills. A tactical alliance was said to have been formed a few years ago between the CPP-NPA and the MILF. But theres more to it than strategic political and military interests. Mindanao, and the BIMP-EAGA area for that matter, is home to one of the worlds richest and relatively untouched natural resources. Mindanao is not called the promised land for nothing. You have oil, gold and other minerals, rich water and marine resources, the thickest forest cover and highly fertile lands. The Mindanao trench may also hold the ultimate fuel of the future, deuterium, which is not only clean but also unlimited in supply. Mindanaos strategic economic, political and military value to US imperialism and its twin thrusts of neoliberal globalization and unilateral, preemptive military action is reflected in the amount of military operations and so-called development aid being poured into the island, particularly the ARMM. Not a week goes by without a picture of US servicemen or embassy officials involved in some kind of feel good activity in Mindanao. In Basilan, Sulu, Zamboanga and various parts of Mindanao, there is a permanent presence of American troops. Just last month, it was revealed that the US was building a multi-million peso military facility in Sulu, aside from the various temporary and borrowed facilities already in place. In Sulu and Basilan, despite blanket denials by both US and Philippine officials, residents confirm that US troops are involved in covert and not-so-covert combat operations, intelligence gathering, and civic-military actions. Clearly, they are here to stay. There have also been reports and evidences of covert Philippine and US military operations done to instill a state of terror and justify greater military involvement in Mindanao and the Philippines at large. In May 16, 2002, US agent Michael Meiring accidentally exploded an improvised bomb in his rented room at the Evergreen Hotel in Davao City. Confined at the Davao Doctor's Hospital, he was visited by three FBI agents John Gray, Robert McDowell, Adalberto Rivera and US Vice-Consul Michael Newbill. On May 19, Meiring was discharged, boarded a chartered plane and was spirited out of the country allegedly by fellow CIA operatives to escape criminal and civil charges.

In July 2003, AFP junior officers, many of them stationed in Mindanao, led what is now called the Oakwood mutiny. Among their grievances was the involvement of the AFP in various bombing incidents in Mindanao in line with the political agenda of the AFP top brass and the Arroyo administration. Mindanao is the biggest recipient of program funding from the US Agency for International Development or USAID. Between 2001-2006, USAID provided approximately US$260 million to various projects in Mindanao covering the areas of peace and security, economic growth, good governance, health and education. In fact, 60% of all USAID funds for the Philippines go to Mindanao. The USAIDs list of accomplishments is impressive, at least on paper: More than 820 barangay infrastructure projects and 39 regional impact projects in conflict-affected areas, benefiting more than four million people. 7,200 MNLF combatants trained to produce high value crops such as finfish. Over 12,390 households in 413 remote communities equipped with solar-powered, renewable energy systems 537 schools in conflict-affected areas introduced to computer and internet education, benefiting nearly 464,000 students and more than13,000 teachers

USAID applies the US governments 3-D approach of Diplomacy, Defense and Development, most vividly reflected in what the institution has called the Basilan Model approach. Basically, the approach goes like this: (1) Fight the terrorists and deny them sanctuary; (2) Bribe the local officials and win over the population by civic-military actions and development projects; thereby (3) Providing the environment where free trade and Western-style democracy can flourish. There may be endless debates whether the approach is effective or not. What is clear, however, is that far from being a spent force, as military officials have been repeatedly declaring since 1999, the Abu Sayyaf continues to run circles around the Armed Forces of the Philippines. What is clear is that the GRP-MILF talks are getting nowhere, the 1996 peace agreement with the MNLF continues to be breached than followed, fighting continues with the NPA, and peace is nowhere near at hand. Worse, the US now appears ready and wanting to expand their operations to other areas. Two months ago, the commander of the Asia Pacific Fleet offered to help the Arroyo government in licking the New Peoples Army (NPA). At about the same time, there was a clamor from the Philippine Army to hold joint RP-US military exercises in the Bicol region. US troops have been sighted in various parts of Panay Island accompanying Philippine troops in counter-insurgency operations. To sum it up, six years after the 9-11 attacks on the US, Mindanao is reaping the benefits of George W. Bushs war on terror: (1) The constant presence and active involvement of US troops in the armed conflict; (2) Greater military aid to the AFP; (3) A bigger slice of the development aid pie; and (4) More attention from the media. As to

peace, democracy and the fulfillment of the Moro and Lumad peoples aspirations for selfdetermination, well, those remain as elusive as ever. In Mindanao, as well as in Central Asia and many parts of the world, the complex social, economic and cultural conditions that breed armed conflict cannot be solved by onesize-fits-all solutions like the US-led war on terror. We should have learned our lesson by now. The Moro and Lumad people of Mindanao cannot be ruled by powerful nations and their native surrogate regimes. Unless we seriously and earnestly address their demand for self-determination, there will be no peace. ###

Presented at the Public Forum Terror on the Rise?: Peace, Human Rights and Security Six Years after 9-11 September 11, 2007 College of St. Benilde De La Salle