Defeating the Idea: Unconventional Warfare in Southern Philippines - Essay Example

& Number: Defeating the Idea (Unconventional Warfare in southern Philippines) 10 August (word count = 2,173) Introduction The war against terrorism cannot be fought with guns and bullets alone. Terrorists work on ideological principles to attract and train new recruits in a never-ending pool of adherents. Terrorism is the modern version of what military experts call as asymmetrical warfare. This is a type of war in which the combatants (referring to the terrorists) are usually stateless and try to remain hidden among the civilian population. Another aspect of asymmetrical warfare is its inequality in terms of military forces, with the terrorists being the weaker side of the conflict, most often also in a position to strike at will at their convenience against open or easy targets. Any effort to defeat terrorism must look at the underlying causes to be effective. This paper gives a brief background discussion on several causes which impel people to resort to terrorist methods in order to fully understand how some counter-terror operations are successful while others are not, despite massive logistical support given to these operations. It also gives an astounding example of tentative successes against terror groups such as the ones operating in the southern regions of the Philippines which is located in Southeast Asia. There are obvious lessons to be learned there which can hopefully be replicated elsewhere. Presently, there is no accepted international legal definition of terrorism. Countries may have their own laws against terrorism but a common feature of all these laws is that terrorism is considered as a criminal act. As such, it is punishable by the harshest sentence possible that can range from long prison terms, a life sentence or even capital punishment. The layman's definition of terrorism is that of an act or a series of acts designed to sow extreme fear in the population. It is actually a form of coercion backed up by the threat of physical violence. Discussion Most terror groups today belong to network-type of organization. This kind of set-up allows for each tiny group (a terror cell) composed of just a few people to operate in a manner independent of the main organization which makes it difficult to track down other terror cells. There are varied reasons why people resort to terrorism and among them are the following: a feeling or perception of being marginalized within the larger society, to fight against injustice, for political autonomy, religious freedom or ethnic recognition. With this list in mind, it is too easy to see that military means alone cannot defeat terrorism if the underlying causes that had caused it to rise in the first place are not adequately addressed by the government. This paper is a reflective essay on a military assessment article written by Sgt. Major William Eckert, an American military service member of the Joint Special Operations Task Force (JSOTF) in the Philippines. His article described how the US military in cooperation with the security forces of the Philippines (the Philippine military and the police forces) have achieved a good measure of success in the fight against terrorism which could be used as the model for other forces operating elsewhere in the world's global hot spots. In his own words, the battle against terrorism in this Asian country is a war for peace and prosperity. It has also gained the attention of senior military leaders impressed by its decent gains (Eckert 1). In essence, Sgt. Major Eckert's position paper is a claim that the battle against these terrorists is a battle of ideas. In other words, the only effective way to defeat terrorism is fight its idea (which serves as its recruiting tool by exploiting real or imagined grievances) with a much better idea – that the way to prosperity is to maintain peace by addressing the perceived inequalities felt by the minority Muslim populace within much larger predominantly Catholic Philippine population. The most-telling result or achievement of the JSOTF-Philippines is the marked decline in terrorist activities by the Abu Sayyaf Group and the Jemaah Islamiyah. Addressing the Issues – the Muslims in southern Philippines had become disgruntled, disenfranchised, disillusioned and disappointed with the national government in Manila due to its perceived neglect resulting into abject poverty of the people in this region. In fact, Basilan and its surrounding islands as a group belong to one of the poorest regions in the country. It is therefore not surprising that this place had become a fertile ground for recruiting terrorists. In the eyes of the people, they have been discriminated against for their religious beliefs over the years in a systematic form of benign neglect, resulting in a great economic disparity. Regional development was virtually non-existent for so many years. All the elements or causes mentioned earlier that breed terrorism are present in this region – social injustices, fight for political autonomy, for religious freedom and to a certain extent, ethnic recognition too. All of them combined to produce a volatile mix which had in turn resulted or evolved into demands for complete political independence as well through the establishment of an independent Bangsa Moro state. Neglect by the national government have resulted in a lack of any viable presence by civilian government units resulting in the political vacuum that gave terrorists the opportunity to move in. Neglect created an environment that is ripe for terrorists groups and extremists to move about freely (ibid.) from lawlessness. The joint US-Philippine military operations in this region are not predicated only on military action but involves other civilian components as well, namely these: foreign internal defense (FID), civil-military operations (CMO) and information operations (IO). These three mission areas are within the expertise of the special operations forces (SOF) and these are the things needed to fight terrorist ideology that exploited the grievances of the people against the national government. The economic and political environment that breeds mistrust had to be changed accordingly and this can only be done through a secure environment for the people. It must also be remembered that America had been in this area before, right after the country was bought by Washington when Spain was defeated by America during the colonial period. This dates back to around the turn of the nineteenth century when the Bates Agreement was signed in 1899 that gave America sovereignty over the Sulu archipelago via the indirect type of rule through the Sultan of Sulu (De Toy 90). In essence, American soldiers went back to the place where their earlier comrades-in-arms had waged combat against its fierce Moro warriors belonging to 13 different cultural-linguistic groups but united by Islam with a long history of conflict already with the Christian Filipinos up north. These Muslim fighters had a very brave and valiant tradition of fighting to the death than surrender and Spain was never to effectively control these island groups; the early American colonists were told to keep the Muslims quiet although these fighters had steadfastly refused to disarm. Sgt. Major Eckert had mentioned it a bit in his article, citing the fact many Muslim Filipinos still view the United States with very wary eyes, dating back to the days when the region was a US protectorate and to the times of religious intolerance and political subjugation when these were the main aims (Eckert 5). The US military today had done right in going back to this volatile southern region of the Philippines not to fight this time (it is not allowed by treaty to bring in combat troops) or to engage directly in offensive combat operations but merely to provide assistance. A previous history of warfare by the Americans during the colonial era is still remembered by a lot of the local people there, when their ancestors withdraw to the extinct volcano of Bud Dajo in order for them to establish a last stand against the American soldiers (McCoy 209). American soldiers came into the region again only in cooperation with the Philippine military and police forces to secure an environment that is conducive to peace. This is termed as a partnership-for-progress program that saw the soldiers build school buildings, rebuild the damaged or dilapidated public infrastructures, conduct medical and dental missions, remove the atmosphere of fear and lawlessness by re-establishing the rule of law and by non-violent methods of problem resolution, now collectively termed as the Basilan Model. Capacity Building – the modest gains achieved through the JSOTF-Philippines will have to be sustained for the long term when the Americans will have to leave this region. This is being accomplished by the use of a full range of support for the Armed Forces of the Phils. (AFP) and the local government units to serve the people and to address the root causes of the terrorism which were mostly originally economic, social and political grievances. Resources were brought in to build hospitals, schools, bridges and artesian wells for fresh potable water. The US military is fighting terrorism with a better idea of attainment of progress instead of a nihilist ideology of terrorism that seeks to deprive the people of their freedoms. Through these various activities undertaken by the civil-military operations (CMO) component, the people in the region are being empowered to achieve their hopes of attaining development. Terrorism is a manifestation of something that is wrong with a given society. In this particular case, the grievances of the Muslim minorities go back a long way to the Spanish and American colonial times when they were subjected to a pacification campaign, firstly to convert them to Catholicism by the Spaniards and later on by the Americans for their culture. If there is justice and equity, terrorists cannot find a fertile ground for recruitment as people are naturally averse to violent means when there are other avenues available for redress. The humanitarian and development-oriented approaches adopted by both the US and Philippine military forces turned the initial suspicion into a welcomed cooperation from local inhabitants who do not see a larger motive for the help being extended to them. The peaceful approach is more effective in terms of cost and in winning over the trust of the people than in adopting a purely militaristic approach. The Philippine military had already adopted a similar way of fighting off the communist insurgency through their concept of depriving the enemies of a sanctuary. In this regard, the local communities can be likened to a pond in which there is water but being drained gradually, making them inhospitable for insurgents to operate in. The CMO undertook projects that were clearly needed and beneficial to the area and that people were made aware of them to ensure local support and buy-in; these were needed at the moment when these civilian projects were turned over to the barangay head (village chief) for maintenance to ensure continuance beyond the stay of the JSOTF-Philippines. Part of their success in gaining the trust of the people is through an effective communications campaign. It is designed to send across a positive message in a clear manner that avoids any surprises. This is being done in cooperation with the Psychological Operations (PSYOP) teams that conduct assessments at each specific location based on the cultures and sub-cultures prevailing there. Sgt. Major Eckert failed to mention how the local Muslim population is not very violent as to those in other Muslim regions of the world. The Muslims are Filipinos after all who are peace loving and kind, manifested by that instance where a bomber refused to follow his orders. It is entirely different when contrasted with the situations in Iraq, Afghanistan or Pakistan in which bombings are almost a daily occurrence. This cultural sensitivity is shown by the efforts of the JSOTF-P to produce a graphic novel series so people can understand more easily. This is very useful in a region where the illiteracy rate is among the highest in the country. Conclusion Sgt. Major Eckert did a wonderful job of documenting the successes achieved by the JSOTF-P in southern Philippines. He had covered almost all the relevant issues being used by terrorist groups to advance their agenda by using the concept of fighting an idea with a better idea. As they say, there is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come and that is the idea of progress and development through peace and prosperity. However, there is one shortcoming in his nicely-written erudite article and that is the failure to discuss the issue of a larger regional terrorist network whose aims are largely historical. The wider terrorist network in Southeast Asia is concerned with re-establishing an Islamic super-state within the region. Works Cited De Toy, Brian M. Turning Victory into Success: Military Operations after the Campaign. Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, USA: Combat Studies Institute, 2004. Print. Eckert, William. Defeating the Idea: Unconventional Warfare in Southern Philippines. Manila, Philippines: JSOTF-Phils., no date. Print. McCoy, Alfred W. Policing America's Empire: The United States, the Philippines and the Rise of the Surveillance State. Madison, Wisconsin, USA: University of Wisconsin Press, 2009. Print. Read More