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Commentary:
Arroyo Sets Stage for Aggressive U.S. Role in War Against the NPA

It is no coincidence that the current war exercises between U.S. and Philippine forces will be stepped up by fielding more American troops while the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is reportedly setting the stage for scuttling peace talks with the National Democratic Front (NDF). If recent events are pieced together, signs will begin to surface that a war against the New People’s Army – and possibly against the Moro guerrillas – is in the offing.

BY BOBBY TUAZON
Bulatlat.com

By this time, it would be hard for both the Arroyo and Bush administrations to hide the fact that the Balikatan 02-1 and other war exercises yet to unfold are meant to serve another purpose. As has been declared repeatedly by militant groups and other concerned quarters, the hundreds of U.S. forces now deployed in southern Philippines and in other parts of the country will likely stay for good and they will be beefed up by several more troops and weaponry. Their secret mission is starting to unravel: to stay permanently, to build a military station in Mindanao and, gradually, to push the drive for a war of annihilation against both the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Marxist-led New People’s Army (NPA).

Bits of information can now be pieced together that would show that this scenario will likely happen. First of course, is when defense and Armed Forces officials aped attempts by the Bush administration – through its state department, Pentagon and other intelligence agencies – to demonize the MILF and NPA as “terrorist organizations” along with the Abu Sayyaf. Philippine military and defense officials tried to do better by linking the MILF to the Abu Sayyaf and the al-Qaeda and, in the case of the NPA, by digging up the “killing fields” in Mindanao which were actually a handiwork of misguided elements who later broke away from the underground movement.

Second, thanks to the gullible minds of the Philippine press, American special forces in Basilan have been portrayed as a benevolent force who constitute the X factor in the fight against the Abu Sayyaf bandits. Slowly but surely, this spin – or what the Special Forces call “information operation” (IO) - is conditioning the minds of Filipinos that without the Americans, the fight against “terrorism” and other security threats cannot be won. Which is another way of saying that Macapagal-Arroyo’s own generals cannot do their job.

Third, having orchestrated this psychological warfare for weeks, U.S. military officials are now planning to field more troops numbering, as the AFP spokesman said, at least a battalion. The officials insist, however, that the new forces will conduct “civic action” in Mindanao. One wonders why the U.S. forces will now be preoccupy themselves with “civic action” when the AFP itself has several battalions specializing in this field. Just the same, if a new “civic action” which, as many Filipinos know is an integral part of a military campaign and is, therefore, nothing but a military campaign, kicks off then it would look like a new battlefront is in the works.

The planned new deployment casts doubts on either the validity of the claim by both Presidents George Bush and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo that the U.S. forces are only assisting Philippine troops eliminate the Abu Sayyaf – a fugitive band of kidnappers believed to number less than 100 – or on the fighting skill of both these forces who number in the thousands on Basilan island alone.

Peace talks

As the arrival of the new U.S. forces is being awaited, Arroyo announced this week that peace talks with the National Democratic Front (NDF) have been suspended. Instead, reports said, “backchannel talks” are being pursued by the government to pressure the NDF and its revolutionary organizations to surrender.

NDF chief negotiator Luis Jalandoni laughed off the idea of surrender by the Arroyo administration as “wishful thinking.” Jose Maria Sison, NDF chief political consultant, called the president “a marionette of the United States…whose U.S.-assigned handler is Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes.”

“She is now trying to cast away all the agreements made in the peace negotiations and is deliberately provoking the NDF to formally declare the termination of the peace negotiations,” Sison added.

Renato Reyes, spokesperson of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan – New Patriotic Alliance), warned “militarists and U.S. apologists in the Arroyo administration” not to railroad the U.S. proposal and urged Vice President Teofisto Guingona to block it at the Department of Foreign Affairs and the cabinet.

“This time, Malacañang has gone too far,” Reyes said.

It is no coincidence that the plan to increase the number of U.S. troops in the Philippines came up while government is setting the stage for scuttling peace talks with the NDF and, imminently, with the MILF. The U.S., especially under its war hawk president, has always been against any peace talks with any guerrilla group in the Philippines particularly with the NDF and has been relying on pro-U.S. generals to act as the pressure point in the civilian government.

All-out war

Declaring an all-out war against the NPA is, however, moot and academic as Arroyo’s forces, led by Angelo Reyes, have been in an endless war with the leftist guerrillas.

On the other hand, it would be politically and militarily suicidal at this point for the Americans to be directly involved in the war against either the NPA or MILF. They will most probably enter the war by fielding military advisers and assistance in communications, intelligence and air transport during counter-insurgency operations until such time that conditions are set for direct military involvement. But such operations can only come about if the U.S. forces are assured of military stations in the country – a scheme which Arroyo, whether she likes it or not, must support.

The ground for a prolonged stay of U.S. combat forces in the country had been determined in December last year when a top U.S. military official in Washington said that for sure, the troops will operate beyond this year and that it would entail fielding more warm bodies. Joint military exercises will be conducted more frequently and in increasing numbers that would allow the entry of U.S. forces in a “permanent-temporary arrangement.” It would be costly if such regular “exercises” are held in the country without some kind of a permanent installation. And it would be the height of absurdity if such war games are held without a long-term objective.

The first phase in the escalation of war against the NPA where U.S. forces will participate directly or indirectly, will take place when the next Balikatan 02-2 will begin this year in Central Luzon. The region has been a traditional turf of the guerrillas but it is also where former U.S. military stations are found – at Clark in Angeles City and at Subic in Olongapo. Bulatlat.com

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