Michael Yon has a really unique perspective on the US military and the war on Islamic terror in the Philippines. Here are several articles, with LOTS of photos, in the order he posted them. This is a war where US forces rarely fight, yet play a crucial role in helping and training local forces, and building bonds with the local citizenry. This, too, is the war on terrorism. As usual, I’m very proud of our military.
If you want to have more background on this type of mission for our military, check out the book “Imperial Grunts” by Robert Kaplan. In the meantime, hot off the presses from Michael Yon, with LOTS of fascinating photos at the links below:
The southern Philippines has been a festering bed for international terrorists for decades. Direct links with al Qaeda and associated groups, such as Jemaah Islamiya (JI), are conclusively established. These groups are collectively responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent people from dozens of countries. JI, for instance, was responsible for the 2002 Bali bombing that killed 202 people, including my friend Beata Pawlak.
U.S. troops here in the Philippines have been happily receiving large shipments of donated books from citizens in the United States.
Welcome to the tropical Philippine island of Jolo, where life is like a Corona ad—coconut trees, white-sand beaches, bathtub-warm seas. Except those guys in the water are U.S. Green Berets, and those kids on dirt bikes are jihadists known for kidnapping Western tourists. Even stranger? On this front, at least, America seems to be winning.
Green Beret Loses Race and Wins a Battle
After one week of close access to some key players in this conflict, I can make one certain statement: This is a complex war. As for the complexity of the human terrain, the Philippines is the “Afghanistan of the Sea.” There are great differences, of course. The Republic of the Philippines is a functioning democracy with a professional military and it’s not bordering Pakistan and Iran, yet the human terrain here is far more complex than that of Iraq or even Afghanistan. Physical terrain shapes human terrain. Afghanistan has deserts, mountains and valleys, while this place has the sea, thousands of islands, and mountains and valleys. Physical barriers create separate languages and cultures.
Small teams of American troops are spread across many locations in the southern Philippines. Each team works side-by-side with Filipino counterparts. The jobs vary. Navy SEALs and Special Boat Teams often support the AFP (Armed Forces Philippines) on actual operations. I have been briefed on some of these operations — though without the physical access one gets in Iraq or Afghanistan. One truism of embedding: the more they are fighting, the closer the writer is welcome to get, right up into the middle.
Our folks do not engage in direct combat unless they are being attacked, but the Philippine commanders enjoy the direct, non-combat support, including the occasional use of U.S. warships. American ships don’t fire their weapons or engage in combat.
