Intel

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The "war games" or "U.S.-Philippine joint military exercises" (code-named Kalayaan-Aguila 2002 or Balikatan 02-1) being held in Basilan and Zamboanga are nothing but an outright military operation by U.S. military forces led by the Special Operations Forces (SOFs). For the record, Kalayaan-Aguila 2002 marks the largest U.S. military intervention engaged in actual combat against "real, actual targets" on Philippine soil since the Philippine-American War (1899-1901). It deploys the largest number of U.S. troops for combat in the Basilan-Zamboanga area since the Moro Wars (1901-1911). It should be recalled that the Philippine-American War which began in 1899 actually raged on with Filipino guerrilla units harrassing U.S. expeditionary forces till 1913.

Under the guise of an annual Balikatan (Shoulder to Shoulder) Military Exercise, 1,200 Philippine troops and 660 U.S. troops are engaged in a "six months to one year" joint military operations against live targets, the Abu Sayyaf. Previous Philippine-U.S. military exercises in various parts of Luzon and Mindoro have avoided areas of rebel or dissident operations obviously to prevent a deeper involvement by U.S. forces in internal conflicts. Even at the height of U.S. military activity on the U.S. bases in the 60s and 70s, U.S. military forces have kept a low profile in the counter-insurgency campaign in the surrounding Central Luzon provinces.

As observed by Associated Press correspondent Pauline Jelinek in an article on the January 11, 2002 issue of U.S. NAVY TIMES, "...Afganistan is not the only country where Americans are fighting or plan to fight the terrorists... U.S. Special Operations Forces already in the Philippines will spearhead the U.S. effort to bolster the Asian nation's defenses against radical Muslims ...the dispatch of U.S. forces to the Philippines is an example of U.S. efforts to take the fight against terror elsewhere around the globe."

President Gloria Macapa...