Posted on: Tuesday, January 8, 2002
Editorial
U.S. must take care in Philippine mission
Despite the active involvement of some Hawai'i-based troops in the war on terrorism over the past several months, the connection between that war and the Islands has felt somewhat remote.
That's about to change with word that soldiers from the Pacific Command at Camp Smith have begun filtering into the Philippines to help that nation with its own war against terrorism in the south.
While no one is saying much, it is clear there will be a growing American presence in the Philippines over the coming months. While the Philippines has been fighting insurgents for years, the immediate concern is that the Muslim rebel group Abu Sayyaf has direct links to al-Qaida and its leader, Osama bin Laden.
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has made it clear that while she appreciates U.S. assistance, she is not particularly interested in having American troops involved in direct combat on the ground in the Philippines. Adm. Dennis Blair, commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, has made it explicitly clear that he accepts Arroyo's concerns.
The troops that will be going to the Philippines, the United States says, will serve strictly in training, logistics and advisory roles.
That is a commitment worth taking seriously. While today's world is considerably different from the world three or four decades ago, when the first American "advisers" and training troops went to Vietnam, there are parallels worth remembering.
The Philippine insurgency was in place a long time before the United States decided it would enter full-scale into a global "war" on terrorism. There is every possibility it will continue on that scattered and diverse archipelago for a long time to come.
The United States has a direct interest in protecting its back and those of its allies against terrorism, wherever and whenever it is found. But our current concern must not lead us into a quagmire not of our making and over which we will never have adequate control.
