Abu Sayyef: We're now at war with them, so who are they? A link prime (more added):

In case you missed it, the US is now sending 3000 troops to fight the Abu Sayyef organization in the Phillipines.

In the interests of informing people of who their government is fighting/killing/etc, here's a selection of links to decriptions by reputable sources (be the first person on your block to know what in the hell is going on, and who's responsible!):

- <a href="http://library.nps.navy.mil/home/tgp/asc.htm" target="_blank">US Navy</a>
- <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/719623.stm" target="_blank">BBC</a>
- <a href="http://asia.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/abusayyaf/" target="_blank">CNN Special Page</a>
- <a href="http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/asg.htm" target="_blank">Federation of American Scientists</a> (academic think tank)

Feel free to post any comments or questions. Spread the information to your peers. Knowledge is power so spread the wealth!

<small>[ February 21, 2003, 01:57 PM: Message edited by: Bobak ]</small>

From a person who has Filipino friends, I'm STRONGLY against the US's decision to send troops to the Phillipines(sp?).

WHAT THE FUCK ARE BUSH AND RUMMSFELD THINKING!?! blow_top They're seriously trying KILL US ALL!!!

FILIPINOS DON'T WANT US TROOPS IN THEIR COUNTRY AND THEY'VE MADE THAT VERY CLEAR! WHY the fuck would we send our Special Forces there and train their military on anti-terrorist tactics when NOW we're sending 3,000 fucking troops there to solve a problem that they've been taking care of for years!?!?!

I swear, at this rate, the US will purposely cause WWIII due to a group's greedy, one-sided actions... oh_no I know the Phillipines is a terrorist haven, but we don't NEED to get involved and get our own men killed when we're going to fight Iraq which is a few hours away! very_ang

Damn, President Arroyo even said that the leader of Abu Sayyaf has left the island because of non-ending pursuits to capture or kill him! The Filipinos can handle this! FUCKING LEAVE THEM ALONE!!!

At this rate, NOT ONLY will millions of innocent Arabs and Americans get killed, but Asians, Europeans, Africans, and South Americans too! SHIT! eek!

YES; I said African and South Americans. In case you haven't heard, Bush is planning on sending troops to Zimbabwe to get rid of President Robert Mugabe's regime once Saddam is out of commision AND the US has been regularly sending Special Forces troops to South America to quell the rebel guerillas and anti-government terrorists.

We as Americans have already dug our own grave, but do we have to take the rest of the world with us when we blow ourselves to pieces due to our own incompetence and selfish greed?

The US has NO right to be the "Herald of Freedom and Prosperity" that Bush is showing the media to be. This false propaganda is what's going to kill us...

All too often I've heard Americans (namely people in the State Department, who are the one's most likely to be attacked by terrorists abroad) say that the only way to save Third World/Impovershed Countries is to flex some US muscle and bomb the hell out of the "rogue" governments (who cares how many people die in the process? We're saving them from the "bad-guys"!), that'll teach those people a lesson and stop their bitching...AND THEN THEY CAN _STOP_ SENDING THEIR ASSYLUM SEEKERS AND FREEDOM SEEKERS TO "OUR" COUNTRY AND ABUSING THEIR AMERICAN FREEDOMS AND PRIVILEDGES!

Perhaps they have a point, but all I'm saying is that the US doesn't need to be the one who does it! FUCK, what's the EU for? The UN? NATO? We didn't help create those organizations just to say "AMERICA'S GONNA BE THE FIRST IN EVERYTHING FROM STOPPING TERRORISM TO REBUILDING THE WORLD ECONOMY, STARTING WITH WHOEVER WE SAY ARE THE BAD-GUYS! NYAH, NYAH, NYAH!"

Who really gives a shit if the US is the only real superpower left? In a few years, the EU's gonna be the US rival and maybe even surpass it! I wouldn't fucking care cuz' I'd stand behind the fact that that's what America needs: to deflate it's huge ego and realize that there are other people on this big home that we call Earth besides "Born-and-Bred-Americans who have nothing to look forward to when they retire".

It's fucked up people...it's suicide, and Bush and Rummsfeld don't care...they're throwing our lives down a toilet and gambling with blank, emotionless, faces (and oil and money falling out of their pockets) to see what happens next so they can kill millions of others.

Iraq, North Korea, Zimbabwe, the Phillipines, Venezuela...so sad...

That's all I have to say.

Do the world a favor put the gun to your head and pull the trigger. That is it you are hereby thrown out of the gene pool!
Should we stay out of the Philippines when these people are taking missionaries from the US hostage and not for some glorious religious reason either just for the ransom they think they will get for them. This description "Engages in kidnappings for ransom, bombings, assassinations, and extortion." is one of a criminal orginization not a rebel force trying to bring their will to power.

Where are these one sided greedy actions you are talking about so ae we after oil in the Philippines now. Troops wouldn't be sent there unless the government there asked for more help.

hey true warrior, im a filipino and i use to live on the old subic bay navy base when i was a kid and i like the idea of sending more troops so far

THE PHILIPPINES HAS NO DISCIPLINE! the government is corrupt with pride, crime is at a high peak, war is breaking in the south for so long, and the economy is really really bad.

Keep in mind, the US forces were invited.

The southern Phillipines are a war zone:


MORE INFO ON THE ONGOING CONFLICT
<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1695576.stm" target="_blank">http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1695576.stm</a>
this is an Excellent link to stories on the conflicts

<small>[ February 21, 2003, 01:56 PM: Message edited by: Bobak ]</small>

Bobak:
Keep in mind, the US forces were invited.

The southern Phillipines are a war zone:


MORE INFO ON THE ONGOING CONFLICT
<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1695576.stm" target="_blank">http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1695576.stm</a>
this is an Excellent link to stories on the conflicts

Click to expand...

Moreover, there have been US military personel in the area simply based there. When the ASG has caused problems, the US military has stayed out of it. That was at the request fo the Philipines gov't - now the gov't wants the US to help out. Again, just doing what they are asked to.

And - I have Phillipino friends too, and they are Christians who feel that what the ASG are doing is completely wrong and they need to be removed. At the same time, they feel that the non-ASG muslims are good people, and they have no conflicts with them.

But what can normal Phillipino people do? They don't want to fight. They just want to live in peace.

Bobak:
Keep in mind, the US forces were invited.

Click to expand...

tickled I love how one sentence can smack down a full page of text.

dmhawkmoon:

Bobak:
Keep in mind, the US forces were invited.

Click to expand...

tickled I love how one sentence can smack down a full page of text.

Click to expand...

Yeah, that was pretty funny. I can just picture him on the other end... "Yeah, but.... umm... oh."

heheh . No offense to you the True Warrior. This wasn't intended as a flame. It was just a funny situation .

Bobak:
Keep in mind, the US forces were invited.

The southern Phillipines are a war zone:


MORE INFO ON THE ONGOING CONFLICT
<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1695576.stm" target="_blank">http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1695576.stm</a>
this is an Excellent link to stories on the conflicts

Click to expand...

Touche', Bobak. smirk I've been humbled yet again, but ultimately no offense taken! mr_t

Thanks for clarifiying it for me.

Well, your point of view is actually shared by a lot of Phillipine Congressman (who believe that it should be handled internally). Of course, until only very recently, it hadn't been going super well. There is something about having another country going into your own to handle (what amounts to) an internal matter that's understandably embarrassing. [how many people in the US congress would go apeshit if that happened here? -whew!]

Bosnia, Rwanda, Kosovo, and then 9.11/Taliban have change a lot of opinions on that (since this stuff tends to cross borders and regardless, more people are caring now because they see it on CNN/BBC/etc.

No offense meant, I'm glad you're cool with it wink

<small>[ February 22, 2003, 06:10 PM: Message edited by: Bobak ]</small>