Why are you here?
Sulu Governor Sakur Tan asked the American soldier sitting across from him at a meeting in Jolo soon after he took office.
“We’re here because we’re allies,” the soldier responded. “We were invited to help fight terror, and we want peace.”
Col. David Maxwell of the US Army, commander of the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines (JSOTFP), believes in peace, and believes that peace, especially in Mindanao, will not be won by bullets.
He expresses high respect for the Philippine Armed forces currently fighting in Basilan and Sulu for the “very disciplined operations” they have conducted against the rebels who murdered and beheaded a number of their comrades a couple of months ago, and “their great restraint to protect the peace process” and give it room to proceed.
“An immediate violent response can only make things worse,” Maxwell insists. “It is a mistake to say that (the recent clashes) indicate that things are bad… It is too early to tell what the long-term impact will be, we must see over time…”
Maxwell, whose one-year stint as head of the 500 or so American contingent of the JSOTFP ends next month, recognizes that peace is a “national commitment,” but also recognizes that “incidents occur, and you can’t control the actions of certain people or groups.”
He says that the “real indication of change” especially in Sulu is that the people “are so much more supportive of the military and the government now… They are giving information, and in some cases civilian volunteers are even fighting with the AFP” against the rebel forces. He points out that this was not the case in 2005, when the people supported the MILF against the AFP.
Maxwell too is a patient man, insisting that it “takes time to achieve results.” He does show a bit of impatience when people “want instant results” or “immediate gratification” and consider every encounter or incident as a sign that peace is not possible in the south. His formula for success is a combination of “presence, patience and persistence,” the last especially since “things don’t always go right.”
He notes positively that “Mindanao and Sulu are becoming less and less of a sanctuary for terror, the people and the AFP have done a good job of separating terrorists from their supporters, hindered their freedom of movement and ability to survive.” He even sees a positive side to the so far unsuccessful hunt for the remaining Abu Sayyaf leaders, as well as Indonesian bombers Dulmatin and Umar Patek: “The more successful the military operation, the harder it is to find people.”
So why are American soldiers in
“We are here to assist the AFP,” he says, enumerating some of the things that they do, like building and rehabilitating schools and hospitals, roads and other infrastructure, medcaps, as well as military things like medical training for combat, intelligence gathering and processing, communications and logistics, planning operations, conducting investigations, “but never fighting.”
There should absolutely be no doubt though that Maxwell and the rest of the JSOTFP team are “trained to fight – and fight well. We can – but because we can, we don’t.”
“The last people who want war is the military,” says this 30-year military veteran who avoids questions on his military postings and combat experience.
“Special Forces thrive in a non-standard, unconventional environment that requires the application of brain power. Counter-insurgency is irregular warfare, and it is a thinking man’s game,” he adds, sounding a lot like the television shows about military operations that he insists are nowhere near reality.
And do the American forces have a hidden agenda behind their presence in
“Our hidden agenda is we want terror to be eradicated in the
- Latest
- Trending
