A Walk In the Sun
Dean Jorge Bocobo describes how a massive force of cops unsuccessfully attempted to serve 130 arrest warrants "for suspects in the ambush killing, torture and beheadings of 14 Philippine Marines" by the Abu Sayyaf and its allies. It's black comedy in the inimitable Philippine fashion.
Aside from "old women and young boys" the crime scene was said to be deserted except of course for the elements of Malacanang's newly formed tripartite investigating committee ... who were there ahead of the police and waving them off to go back home...they need 24 more hours to tie up the loose ends of their own "independent fact finding" committee, which investigation started last Friday after the President's command conference with them in Zamboanga, far, far away.
Just behead me already!
Meanwhile, Dr. Nando Barandino, medico-legal expert of the PNP in Basilan, and a former captive of the Abu Sayyaf, reports that at least two of the fourteen dead Marines showed signs of torture before they were beheaded during the autopsy he performed on them. He makes the strongest case for an end to this savagery, by recalling the sad recent history of decapitation on Basilan.
posted by wretchardthecat at 7/31/2007 08:07:00 PM
4 Comments:
Is there a solution that does not involve something the the Phoenix Program of the Vietnam war?
Or maybe the tactics of General Pershing against the Moros from a hundred years ago
papabear,
There's two things that have to be done. The first is that Manila has to stop politicizing the insurgency and implement the rule of law. The "peace negotiations" have become meaningless because adherence to its agreements are honored in the breach. So law enforcement is a necessary precondition to making peace agreements work.
Second, the Philippine Armed Forces need to slimmed down drastically but what remains should be upgraded. Many units, apart from the Philippine Marines and some Army units, are immobile and good for garrison or police duties only. They can't go and chase bandidos. No ammo, lack of training, rusty weapons, etc. Not enough funding for a sustained operation.
Wretchard,
You nailed it again. I believe the law enforcement model is much more appropriate then the military model. This behavior is essentially criminal.
The same seems to be true in just about all the cases of al Queda "insurgency". It is beginning to dawn on me that al Queda may be a very overblown threat, possibly a small cult making a lot of noise. I think of Sun Tsu's advice,"if you are weak, look strong".
Did not Pershing use a combination of police tactics and small unit tactics to subdue the Moro Rebellion?
I think about Political Islam as opposed to Spiritual Islam. I am a practitioner of the latter.
Salaam eleikum my professor!
Just a little update...the Fact Finding Committee has completed its work...but it refuses to divulge the "facts" that it "found"!
There is a very suspicious connection here with Fr. Bossi that has not yet been fleshed out. Remember that the Marines got beheaded while looking for him. You see, he was released a week after this incident under very mysterious circumstances. And he has now left the country, vowing not to press charges for his kidnapping.
It's pure speculation on my part, but I think he was released in exchange for "maximum restraint". everyone stays happy. the govt gets its ASEAN Ministerial Meeting. The MILF get a month off for things to cool off.
Eid Kabbalu and AL Hadj Murad are still in line for those juicy ancestral domain land grants. The peace talks are saved!
Post a Comment
<< Home