Dave Eberhart, NewsMax.com
Friday, Dec. 14, 2001

If the U.S. gives Iraq a pass for the time being, some at the Pentagon see the Philippines as perhaps the ideal and politically correct next target. Closing in on terrorists in the majority Christian country will give the War on Terrorism a break from an apparent focus on the Islamic world.

The U.S. government has identified the Philippines as one of more than 50 countries from which al-Qaeda operates.

Correctness aside, Philippine intelligence officers have recently reported to the Philippine Daily Inquirer that some 50 Filipinos suspected of having been trained with terrorist groups in the Middle East began slipping in the southern back door of the island nation soon after the Northern Alliance started overrunning Taliban strongholds in Afghanistan.

Even more compelling than the potential roundup of fleeing terrorists: The Philippines is the haven of Abu Sayyaf, an organization founded by one of bin Laden’s lieutenants, Jamal Khalifa, and initially led by Abdurajak Janjalani, a Filipino Muslim who fought with bin Laden in Afghanistan.

Osama Again

The Philippine military believes that Abu Sayyaf was originally set up with money from the al-Qaeda terror network of Osama bin Laden.

Infamous for its kidnappings (including Americans) and beheadings, Abu Sayyaf has been the most active of the terrorist organizations operating in the Philippines and has deep ties to radical Islamic fundamentalists. The U.S. has listed Abu Sayyaf, based in Basilan, 560 miles south of Manila, as one of more than 20 terrorist groups with international links.

Almost as telling as the newly released bin Laden bragging video: at the top of the standard demands Abu Sayyaf makes during hostage negotiations is the release of Ramzi Yousef, serving a life sentence in the U.S. for the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.

Recently intelligence has revealed that Abu Sayyaf may have, indeed, provided logistical support for Ramzi Yousef. In January 1995, Philippine authorities uncovered a diabolical plan called "Operation Bojinka,” an itinerary for terrorism that included the bombings of 11 unidentified U.S. passenger jets.

Plan to Crash Airliner Into CIA

Even more disturbing were revelations that Bojinka also included a detailed plan to hijack a commercial airliner and crash it into the Central Intelligence Agency’s headquarters in Langley, Va.

Actually, the U.S. anti-terror campaign in the Philippines is already under way. A U.S. military advisory team recently worked with government troops fighting Abu Sayyaf in its southern island lair of Basilan. U.S. Defense Attache Colonel Russell Lewey said a C-130 aircraft, five VH1 helicopters and high-powered fire arms were delivered to government forces.

Philippine government victories on the ground, the American presence and the U.S. gift of planes and arms has led Philippines Security Adviser Roilo Golez recently to predict the collapse of Abu Sayyaf, an event that could be claimed as a significant victory in America’s War on Terror.

Already, Golez has reported that Abu Sayyaf's ranks have diminished to 800 members with 400 weapons. Twenty two Abu Sayyaf leaders were also arrested, and 164 members captured.

And the fertile terror hunting grounds are not just limited to Abu Sayyaf. In late November two Palestinians and a Jordanian were arrested in the Philippines and charged with recruiting for Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda. During the arrest, bomb-making components were seized.

"The arrested foreign nationals are believed to have established a network in the country believed to be part of a support system with suspected linkages to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda terrorist network,” the Philippine military said.

Fodder for the terrorist recruiters: the ubiquitous Abu Sayyaf group, the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front, and Moro National Liberation Front.

These groups are reputedly waging a war for an independent Islamic state in the southern Philippines, although the government dismissed Abu Sayyaf as a bandit group, which lives off of kidnap-for-ransom activities.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is on the record supporting the U.S.-led global anti-terror campaign. Laying important groundwork, she has given U.S. fighter jets and warships free access to all ports in the Philippines.

She further ordered that any intelligence gathered by Philippine authorities will be shared with U.S. authorities and also directed the Securities and Exchange Commission to identify organizations that may handle terrorist funds.

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:

Al-Qaeda

Bush Administration

War on Terrorism

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