U.S. SPECIAL FORCES HAVE “BOOTS ON THE GROUND” IN PHILIPPINES
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
American Special Forces have “boots on the ground” and are helping
Philippine troops and police fight Islamist rebels in the Southern town
of Marawi, according to U.S. and local officials cited in news reports
around the world. The news comes after firebrand Filipino President
Rodrigo Duterte, accused of extra-judicial killings as part of his war
on drugs, repeatedly threatened to evict all U.S. troops from the Philippines.
A number of legal concerns have been raised surrounding the operations
for both governments. However, with officials and media outlets arguing
that the fighting is aimed at stopping Islamists supposedly “loyal” to
the Islamic State (ISIS), even as U.S. forces bomb the enemies of ISIS in Syria, the legal issues have been mostly swept under the rug so far.
The ongoing battle, which centers around the largely Islamic town of
Marawi on Mindanao island, began in May, when Islamist militants under
the leadership of alleged terrorist Isnilon Hapilon overran the area.
Since then, Filipino forces, with U.S. support, have been battling those
jihadists with bombs, planes, and guns, leaving the town of some
200,000 people looking like a “ghost town,” reporters said. According to
media reports citing officials, hundreds of “militants” have been
killed in the fighting, along with more than 50 soldiers and dozens of
civilians. As of last week, some 20 percent of the city was reportedly
still under the control of the rebels, whom various officials and media
reports have said are trying to create a new province for the Islamic
State “Caliphate” in the predominantly Catholic Philippines. The entire
island of Mindanao is under martial law, and the city is reportedly
close to ruins.
The Filipino military officials and U.S. embassy officials who
admitted the role of U.S. troops there have all claimed that American
forces were not actually involved in combat. Technically, that may be
correct, if combat includes only shooting. However, despite earlier
official statements claiming there were not even U.S. boots “on the
ground” near the hostilities, it turns out that American forces are,
indeed, operating “on the ground” in and around Marawi, and presumably
they are all wearing boots. U.S. troops are reportedly helping with
everything from training local forces to gathering intelligence and
conducting surveillance. A local camera crew even caught a group of
American operatives flying a drone from a truck near the
battlefield.
The U.S. embassy in Manila confirmed that U.S. forces were aiding
Filipino authorities in the war, but denied that they were involved in
combat operations. “At the request of the government of the Philippines,
U.S. special operations forces are assisting the AFP with ongoing
operations in Marawi that helps AFP commanders on the ground in their
fight against Maute and ASG militants,” an embassy spokesperson was
quoted as saying, with ASG referring to the Islamist Abu Sayyaf group
and the AFP a reference to the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The U.S.
military also confirmed that Special Forces were giving “security
assistance and training” to their counterparts in intelligence,
surveillance, and reconnaissance. “For security reasons, we are not able
to to discuss specific technical details,” the Pentagon statement
added.
And finally, Filipino military officials confirmed the scheming as
well. Brigadier-General Restituto Padilla, for example, while he denied
that U.S. troops were actually in combat, admitted that the group of men
captured on film operating drones from a truck were in fact U.S.
troops. “In a battle the most important item for the commander is to be
able to determine what is happening,” Padilla said to explain why the
U.S. troops were doing that. “It’s called situational awareness and that
is the sort of assistance being given.” He did admit, too, that
American forces were carrying rifles and were authorized to shoot if
fired upon, which is fairly standard when U.S. troops assist their
foreign counterparts on or near a battlefield. In a strange twist,
President Duterte claimed repeatedly he was not aware of U.S. aid amid
the battle.
It was not clear under what constitutional authority U.S. forces were
supposedly operating under in the latest clashes to break out in the
Philippines. But there have been no declarations of war by Congress
authorizing the intervention. Instead of the constitutionally required
declaration, U.S. officials have argued that the support for Filipino
forces was part of a “counter-terrorism” program. An official statement
cited in press reports also noted that U.S. Special Forces have been
providing “support and assistance” to their counterparts in the
Philippines “for many years,” as if that legitimized it. Various
establishment media organs and officials have implied that a mutual
defense treaty from the 1951 even requires U.S. forces to aid the
Filipino government.
The U.S. Constitution, of course, requires that the U.S. Congress issue an official declaration of war
before the United States is committed to war. The Founders insisted on
it, because they wanted the American people’s elected representatives to
have a proper debate prior to entering a war. They also sought to
prevent a situation in which one person could embroil America in foreign
conflicts. And yet, the last time Congress actually declared war was
during World War II. Since then, legal quackery has been used to develop
a variety of pseudo-“legal arguments” purporting to authorize the
deployment of U.S. troops to fight all manner of wars abroad. On more
than a few occasions — most recently in Libya, with disastrous effects
— U.S. forces have been illegally used to overthrow foreign governments
under the guise of enforcing unconstitutional United Nations
resolutions. But in theory, at least, the Constitution remains the
supreme law of the land.
It was also not clear whether the U.S. operations were legal or
authorized under Filipino law. As far as the Philippines is concerned,
the deployment of U.S. troops might be considered unconstitutional,
according to news reports and various analysts. The Filipino
Constitution prohibits foreign combat troops operating on Philippines’
soil. But top officials were quick to deny that the support being
provided so far was unconstitutional. “What is prohibited under the
Constitution is the joining of U.S. troops in actual combat,” Justice
Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II was quoted as arguing in news reports.
“But sharing of intelligence and equipment is allowed under the EDCA
(Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement).” The EDCA is the legal
agreement that purports to authorize the U.S. military presence in the
Philippines.
While President Duterte conceded that his military men were very pro-American, public calls for evicting U.S. troops have been growing louder for years.
Duterte himself, who often speaks in obscenities and even described
former U.S. President Obama as the offspring of a prostitute, using more
vulgar terms, has expressed outrage toward the U.S. government on
multiple occasions. In view of his disagreements between the two sides,
he appears to be hoping for a stronger alliance with the Communist
Chinese dictatorship in Beijing instead. Much of the press coverage of
his administration in the international media has focused on his highly
controversial war on drugs and widespread allegations of extra-judicial
killings of drug dealers. Some analysts have argued that his allegedly
narrow focus on fighting drugs left the Philippines vulnerable to
jihadists groups, as evidenced most recently by the takeover of
Marawi.
Of course, on the campaign trail, then-candidate Donald Trump hit the nail on the head when he exposed the true origins of ISIS. Far from being some sort of organic development, official U.S. military documents revealed
that the Obama administration and its allies — including Arab dictators
and European governments — were supporting an uprising in Syria that
they knew was led by al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood. One
of the goals, according to a 2012 U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency
document obtained by Judicial Watch, was the creation of a “salafist
principality” in Eastern Syria. Today, that principality is known as the
Islamic State, or ISIS. “In many respects, ISIS is honoring President
Obama,” Trump said at a campaign rally, referring to Obama by his full
name, Barack Hussein Obama. “He’s the founder of ISIS. He’s the founder.
He founded ISIS. And I would say the co-founder would be Crooked
Hillary Clinton.”
Instead of getting American troops embroiled in all sorts of foreign
quarrels and wars, and squandering American money and lives variously
supporting and then opposing both dictators and terrorists, Congress and
the Trump administration should follow the Constitution and the advice
of America’s Founders. That means, first of all, no more committing U.S.
troops to conflicts without a proper declaration of war, as required by
the Constitution — and that, following a thorough debate on the
objectives and merits of U.S. involvement. Second, it means Washington,
D.C., must quit going abroad seeking “monsters to destroy,” as John
Quincy Adams put it. Not only would that save American lives and vast
sums of taxpayer wealth, it would also probably leave the world a better
place. Plus, it’s the law. The people and the authorities of the
Philippines are perfectly capable of handling these problems without
U.S. “help.”
Related articles:
The War Power Belongs Only to Congress
President Duterte Wants U.S. Special Forces to Leave Southern Philippines
Filipinos want US soldiers out
Philippines President Threatens to Withdraw From UN
Trump Highlights Huge Role of Obama and Hillary in Rise of ISIS
U.S. Intel: Obama Coalition Supported Islamic State in Syria
U.S. Defense Intel Chief: Obama Gave “Willful” Aid to Al-Qaeda
ISIS: The Best Terror Threat U.S. Tax Money Can Buy
Little Known Episode in U.S. History Explains Executive War Powers
Is U.S. in Syria to Fight ISIS — or Assad?
