US troops in Sulu fighting ideas that breed terrorism, says official

The US government has deployed its crack troops in Sulu in an effort to win the hearts and minds of the people in the island province against ideas that breed terrorism, a senior US military official said.

According to Gen. Bryan Brown, commander of the 7,000-strong Special Operations Command (USOC), the anti-terror troops deployed in Sulu are under orders against engaging the Abu Sayyaf but will instead try to convince residents to reject the threats raised by terrorism.

Brown, the commander of a US global anti-terrorism force now deployed worldwide, expressed his belief that terrorism could not be defeated with the use of force alone but only through a campaign to win over the people in eliminating illiteracy and poverty through humanitarian efforts.

"We have conducted exercises (in Sulu), built hospitals with your AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines), the USAID and NGO (non-government organization) counterparts," Brown told a select group of journalists in a video teleconference held at the US Embassy Wednesday.

He said his troops are making headway in their anti-terror humanitarian campaign in the province aimed at denying the Abu Sayyaf and the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) extremists a breeding ground.

"The US (troops) along with AFP troops are doing a great job to remove Sulu as a breeding ground of Abu Sayyaf and the JIs," Brown said.

Col. James Linder, commander of the US Special Operations troops in the island-province, said their mission would be confined to educating local residents.

While local troops are the ones doing the fighting, the US anti-terror servicemen have been actively involved in bringing good governance to the province.

"We are not fighting the terrorists in Sulu - the Abu Sayyaf or the Jemaah Islamiyah — but (with) ideas," Linder stressed.

He said the American troops have been building school buildings, roads and hospitals — the three basic services long denied to the residents in the island province.

Meanwhile, Brown said efforts by the US anti-terror troops were a gesture to the Philippine government for being the first country to stand alongside the US following the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks in Washington and New York City.

When asked by The STAR about the possibility of conducting a similar humanitarian effort in Central Mindanao, Brown said this would be a high-level decision of the Philippines and the US government.

In the same video conference, retired general Alexander Aguirre joined the forum and said the terrorism problem in Mindanao was now "more or less localized."

Aguirre, former Cabinet official and presently the chairman of the Strategic and Integrative Studies Center, Inc., based in Hawaii, said the terrorism problem in the Philippines was a "byproduct of the secessionist movement and communist insurgency."

He added the terror threat could be best addressed by the local troops as the national government is exerting all efforts to forge peace with the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

"The peace process (with the MILF) would isolate the radicals from the moderate," Aguirre said.

Local military estimates placed the number of Abu Sayyaf terrorists operating in all of Mindanao at about 510 active members with 30 JI extremists.

Led by Khadaffy Janjalani, most of them are holding out in the dense jungles of Central Mindanao, offering refuge to JI leaders Umar Patek and Dulmatin who are both wanted for the deadly Bali bombings in 2002.

The US government has offered $5 million for the arrest of Janjalani, $1 million for Patek and $10 million for the capture of Dulmatin.

On the status of their manhunt against the top three terrorists, Brown refused to elaborate. "It’s (part of) operational matters," he said.