Philippine official says U.S. deployment on hold
By William Cole
Advertiser Military writer
Just weeks ahead of the anticipated start of a new combat mission for U.S. forces in the southern Philippines, Philippine Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes yesterday said in Honolulu that the exercise and deployment of U.S. troops is on hold.
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"We said that we would rather hold deployment in connection with Balikatan 03-1 until after the final agreement on exactly the size and shape (of the exercise) is reached," said Reyes, who will meet Friday with U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in Washington.
Philippine Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes, being greeted by U.S. Army Maj. Ron Stafford, said any U.S. mission in the Philippines "would have to pass constitutional tests."
U.S. military assessment teams were expected to arrive by this week for possible combat operations next month.
Reyes yesterday and Sunday met at Camp Smith with Adm. Thomas Fargo, the commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, to discuss the latest counterterrorism drive in the Philippines after the Pentagon announced last week that U.S. troops for the first time would have a direct combat role.
Also the Philippine foreign minister yesterday said "junior officials" in Washington falsely stated that U.S. troops would engage in combat alongside Philippine soldiers.
"These reports emanate from junior officials who don't know what they are talking about," Foreign Secretary Blas Ople told reporters in Malaysia.
About 3,000 U.S. troops, including 350 Special Forces soldiers who officials said would work with Philippine troops to hunt down members of Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf, were expected to take part in the exercise. A Pentagon official said he expected some special operations troops from Camp Smith to take part in the exercise, but that Navy ships would come from Japan and Marines from Okinawa.
A Pentagon official said at the time that U.S. forces would "actively participate" in combat operations in the Sulu Archipelago. That differs from an exercise last year in which U.S. special operations troops accompanying Philippine soldiers on the island of Basilan could fire only in self-defense.
Reyes, who yesterday held a news conference at the Philippine Consulate and later met with community members, repeatedly stressed that the new round of Balikatan (shoulder to shoulder) exercises would have to meet Philippine constitutional requirements.
The country's Supreme Court ruled that U.S. troops were prohibited by law from engaging in combat during last year's counterterrorism exercises.
"That's what the Philippine spokesman has been saying all along — that anything that we do would have to pass constitutional tests and tests of legality," Reyes said. "We cannot even dream of doing anything that would run counter to the Constitution and our laws."
In addition to 750 ground troops, 1,000 U.S. Marines were to be stationed on two warships and serve as a "quick-reaction force" capable of launching air strikes with Cobra helicopters and Harrier airplanes.
Reyes yesterday said the exercise would have to be Philippine-led and supported by the United States.
"These are the principal constructs on the Philippine side," Reyes said. "On the American side, certain things will have to be clear and all of these will be addressed, like force protection, you know, the specific rules of American forces, the right to self-defense. All of these things will have to be considered."
Reyes declined to give specifics of his meetings with Fargo. A spokeswoman for Fargo yesterday said only that the meetings would include "issues of mutual interest." That may include counterterrorism.
Reyes said last year's exercise on Basilan helped stabilize the area. The number of rebels has dropped from as many as 1,200 to about 450, he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459.
