An international think-tank that has been monitoring US military activities in the Philippines today weighed in on the resurging controversy saying that by standard “common-sense” definition, US troops are engaged in actual combat in Mindanao.

“According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, ‘combat’ means ‘a fight or contest between individuals or groups’,” pointed out Herbert Docena, researcher of Focus on the Global South, an international research institution based in Bangkok with an office in Manila. “Under this definition, US troops are engaged in actual combat in Mindanao.”

Said Docena:

“The US itself has admitted that its troops accompany Filipino troops in their operations, that its spy planes tell the Philippine military where to strike, that it helps evacuate Filipino soldiers when they’re hit, that its ‘humanitarian assistance’ is meant to ‘win hearts and minds’ – all these are ‘combat’ actions by definition because they are part of a fight or contest in which the goal is to defeat enemies.”

Docena, who has authored two widely quoted reports on the US military in the Philippines, pointed out that information about US troops being involved in combat have been accumulating through the months:

– In June 2002, US troops exchanged gunfire with alleged Abu Sayyaf members, according to a US military publication[i]

– In February this year, Gen Ruben Rafael, Filipino commander in Sulu, admitted to the Los Angeles Times that it was the US military crew of a US P-3 Orion spy plane that provided information that led to a raid in which 8 civilians, including two children and a pregnant woman, were killed[ii]

– Last August 12, a US military-contracted helicopter went to evacuate Filipino soldiers in an encounter in Basilan, as confirmed by the Philippine military[iii]

– On August 17, four American soldiers were seen and photographed helping Filipino troops recover unexploded bombs in North Cotabato[iv]

– On August 31, a US soldier was among those reported to be with a Philippine military convoy that was attacked in Sulu[v]

– Last September 6, Lt. Col Agane Adriatico of the Philippine Army admitted that US troops have been providing technical support in operations against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front[vi]

“In light of all these information, the US and Philippine governments’ attempts to limit the definition of the word ‘combat’ does not make sense linguistically. It only makes sense politically, what with the legal prohibition against US troops being involved in combat,” Docena said. “To accept the common-sense definition of combat is to admit that US troops action in the southern Philippines is unconstitutional.”

Docena pointed out that US troops themselves refer to their mission in the south as “counter-insurgency” or “unconventional warfare” – military terms that encompass “combat.”

Docena stressed that the US military’s own Army Field Manual states:

“Military power is not limited to acts of violence and overt hostilities to achieve strategic objectives… The principles of war apply to the full range of operations, specifically where the use of force is more selective and where restraint and non-lethal aspects of power are dominant.”[vii]

“This,” Docena claims, “shows that even the US military understands the common-sense definition of combat.”

As for Secretary Ermita’s claim that the US troops are not here permanently because they “come and go”, Docena said: “That would be like saying that US never had permanent bases in the country from 1946 to 1991 since US troops assigned to those bases also came and went on rotation.” #

REFERENCE

Herbert Docena: 0917-887-4372

For more information, see the following Focus on the Global South reports:

’At the Door of all the East’: The Philippines in United States

Military Strategy, November 2007

www.focusweb.org/at-the-door-of-all-the-east.pdf

Unconventional Warfare: Are US Special Forces Engaged in an “Offensive War” in the Philippines?, March 2007

http://focusweb.org/downloads/download/reports/unconventional-warfare:-are-us-special-forces-engaged-in-an-%E2%80%98offensive-war%E2%80%99-in-the-philippines?.html

NOTES

[i] Army Magazine, “News Call,” August 1, 2002; John Hendren, “Rebels Shoot at US Troops in the Philippines, Los Angeles Times, June 18, 2002

[ii] Paul Watson, “US role in Philippine Raid Questioned,” Los Angeles Times, March 9, 2008

[iii] Nikko Dizon, Tarra Quismundo, “AFP to media: Allow our soldiers to die with dignity,” Philippine Daily Inquirer, August 15, 2008

[iv] Carolyn Arguillas, “US troops join search for unexploded bombs in conflict area,” Mindanews, August 18, 2008

[v] “Guam National Guard soldier safe, unharmed after rebel attack in Philippines,” www.guampdn, August 31, 2008

[vi] Rex T. Dumarpa, “Army says US forces provide tech support in hunt for Bravo,” Philippine Information Agency, September 5, 2008

[vii] US Army Field Manual 3-07-20, pp 1-15.