1,400 US troops arrive for naval war games

More than 1,400 US navy and coast guard personnel started yesterday joint war games with the Philippine Navy off Zambales and Cavite.

Known as "Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) Exercise 2004," the week-long naval maneuvers are in line with the mutual defense treaty between the Philippines and the US.

"CARAT aims to enhance the operational competence of Philippine Navy personnel on selected naval and marine warfare doctrines, techniques and procedures, including naval special warfare and salvage operations," a joint statement issued by the Philippine and US navies yesterday said.

"The exercise will also promote friendship and strengthen the relationship between the Philippine and US Navies," it said.

Two Philippine Navy aircraft will take part in the naval exercise, along with the ships BRP Artemio Ricarte, BRP General Mariano Alvarez, BRP Lanao del Norte, BRP Hilario Ruiz and BRP Alberto Navarette.

Led by Navy Capt. Buzz Little, commander of Destroyer Squadron One, the US task group will be comprised of US coast guard cutter Mellon, the docking landing ship USS Fort Mellenry, guided missile destroyers USS Russell and USS McCampbell, and rescue and salvage ship USS Salvor.

The maneuvers will include actual exercises at sea involving 10 Philippine and US navy vessels, including the USS Russell and USS McCampbell.

Rear Adm. Kevin Quinn, commander of the US navy’s logistic group Western Pacific, will be the overall coordinator of the CARAT operations.

In Carmen, North Cotabato, US and Filipino troops began a counter-terrorist training exercise yesterday to help the Philippines fight foreign terrorists believed to have set up training camps in Mindanao.

Two Filipino-Americans are among the 22 US troops taking part in the Balance Piston military exercise.

About two dozen military advisers from the US First Special Forces Division are to give "small unit tactics" training to 153 Filipino Army troops and Marines as well as give civil affairs instruction to 50 other soldiers and policemen.

The three-week exercise is the latest in an expanding program of counterterrorist cooperation between the two allies amid rising US concern on the local activities of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), a terrorist cell blamed for the 2002 bombings in Bali and other Southeast Asian targets.

The US considers the group as the Southeast Asian proxy of al-Qaeda.

Col. Isagani Cachuela, commander of the Filipino Army brigade hosting the training, told the trainees at the opening ceremony that both allies face "many difficulties and threats" that were "best handled not separately but together."

Maj. Robert Ball, commander of the military advisers, sought to downplay links between the training and efforts by the two governments to address the threat posed by the JI.

"I know that there have been reports that their insurgents or combatants are here, but again that’s beyond the focus of the exercises," he told reporters.

"We’re here basically because the government of the Philippines asked us to come here," he said. "We do these types of training all over Asia. I can’t speculate on what we might do in the future."

Ball also gave counterterrorist training to Filipino troops on nearby Basilan island in 2002.

The Philippine military estimates about 60 JI terrorists have infiltrated Mindanao, mostly from neighboring Indonesia, and are running at least one training camp on the Mount Cararao region near here with the help of extremist factions of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Millions of dollars in US development aid to its former colony is being funneled into Mindanao to convince the Muslims to turn toward economic development instead of finding common cause with extremists.

Aside from the MILF and Islamic militants, communist rebels operate on Mindanao’s largely Christian eastern half.

Relations between the allies were last week strained by the Philippine decision to pull out its 51-member contingent in Iraq to save Filipino truck driver Angelo de la Cruz from captivity by Iraqi rebels.

However, analysts say the US could not afford to completely abandon the Philippines in its war against local terrorists linked to al-Qaeda.

They say that if the US government withdraws its support the Philippines risked being a haven for terrorists.

Carmen town Mayor Roger Talinio has dismissed small anti-US street protests that have broken out on Mindanao in recent days in opposition to the training exercise.

A small group of Muslim youths burned a US flag on the streets of nearby Cotabato City on Sunday.

Talinio said his constituents welcomed the measure of security offered by the US military activity.

"It isn’t a problem for us here. Carmen is a war-torn area and it’s normal for us," he told reporters after attending the opening ceremony of the military exercise. — Christina Mendez, John Unson, Ric Sapnu, AFP