Philip Bowring: Indignation at the U.S.
 
Philip Bowring NYT
Wednesday, February 26, 2003
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HONG KONG It may make good domestic politics, but Washington's announcement that it is sending troops to Sulu Province in the Philippines to fight the Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf looks like another self-inflicted wound for U.S. diplomacy.
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Unlike last year's dispatch of forces to neighboring Basilan Island, there is little pretense this time that the 1,300 troops will be training the Philippines armed forces. This will be a U.S. mission to "disrupt and destroy" the group, whose number is put at around 250.
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The U.S. desire for a "second front" in the war on terror has taken precedence over the national interests of the Philippines.
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The news from Washington appeared to take Manila unaware, with the presidential spokesman saying the U.S. forces would not engage in offensive actions but would only fire in self-defense.
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Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes described the news as "leaks" on which he declined to comment other than to pledge that U.S. actions would not contravene the Philippine constitution.
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The issue of constitutionality is both a legal one, in a nation which learned its laws from the United States, and an emotional one, given past history of U.S. occupation and military bases.
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There is skepticism in Manila that U.S. troops would actually be under Philippine command. So it is no surprise that much of the media has erupted with indignation.
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The Philippine Inquirer was typical: "The Pentagon disclosure is only the latest confirmation that, indeed, the Ugly American is back: loud, self-absorbed, a gratuitous bully. It is not only the image of the Ugly American which has come back to haunt us. There is also the image of the Filipino as Little Brown Brother."
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A politically and financially feeble government in Manila is hardly in a position to stand in the way of the Pentagon, however much it would like to avoid the Little Brown Brother characterization.
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There is scant evidence that Abu Sayyaf has the ability, or even desire, to conduct operations outside the Philippines, where it is largely confined to the Sulu Archipelago, which includes Basilan Island, where U.S. forces were sent last year to "train" their Philippine counterparts.
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By the standards of insurgency in the Philippines, Abu Sayyaf is a minor problem, dwarfed by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, or MILF, which controls a large chunk of Mindanao, and also by the New People's Army, a Communist guerrilla group that has stepped up activities in several parts of the country.
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Hardly a day goes by without bloody clashes between MILF and government, and inter-communal killings at the interface of Muslim and Christian areas of Mindanao.
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The use of U.S. troops in Sulu is likely, Muslims say, to set back peace talks between the government and the MILF, which have been going on sporadically. It has also been criticized by Christian politicians from Mindanao who say it will exacerbate current problems.
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The U.S. presence may weaken the position of pro-government Muslims in Mindanao and even cause the insurgents in Sulu to patch up relations with their brothers in Mindanao, with whom they share a faith but from whom they are divided by tribal loyalties.
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At the best of times, Sulu is a chaotic place with a long tradition of piracy, smuggling and gun-running. Its Tausug people are known for their warrior credentials, and for resisting U.S. occupation longer than any other part of the Philippines. There is an abiding folk memory of massacres by U.S. troops in 1906 and again in 1913.
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Sulu's proximity to Malaysia and Indonesia also makes this an inappropriate place for the United States to be sending troops at a time when it needs the diplomatic support of these two moderate and passably democratic Muslim nations. The Washington move also further undermines the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, established by previous pacts between Manila and Muslim separatists, in which Muslim Mindanao and Sulu are supposed to enjoy separate status.
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In short, there seems no upside to this operation other than to score domestic political points for the Bush administration, and multiple downsides.

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