Wednesday, August 26, 2009

When Sovereignty Is At Stake!

When Sovereignty Is At Stake!

By Erick San Juan

A couple of days ago, a news item came out that “Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago said that the decision of the United States government to keep an elite 600-soldier counterinsurgency group in the Philippines could indicate an unsuccessful anti-Muslim insurgency campaign. But the (rebel movements are still there) and they seem to be strong and vibrant. So the question is whether they succeeded or not.” (Philippine Star, 082309)

Good question, Sen. Miriam but why the US troops are here in the first place when the 1987 Constitution “does not allow foreign military bases, troops or facilities here except under a treaty duly concurred in by the Senate and, when the Congress so requires, ratified by a majority of the votes cast by the people in a national referendum held for that purpose, and recognized as a treaty by the other contracting State.”

In 1999 the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) was ratified and signed by former President Joseph Estrada who was anti-US bases then but signed the agreement anyway for “security” reason and made sure that our country’s sovereignty will not be trampled upon by the other country. After that, in 2002 RP-US military exercises began, dubbed as Balikatan. The Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines (JSOTF-P) has set up its HQ at Camp Navarro in Zamboanga City and conducted continuous military exercises since then.

As Sen. Santiago said, there was no overt violation of the VFA between the US and the Philippines. But could there be covert operations? As was reported by the Citizens’ Peace Watch (alliance of more than twenty groups) early last year when they tried to visit Camp Navarro in Zamboanga City (and was sent away) which they described as “The US military base stands out and is sealed from the rest of Camp Navarro by walls, concertina wire, and sandbags. The actual size of the area it occupies could not immediately be established from the outside. But communication facilities such as satellite dishes, antenna, and other instruments are visible.” The group asked, “What are they hiding?”

Another comment from Sen. Santiago that should not be taken lightly, “We invited them for cooperation but they should not engage in combat operations because it will diminish our sovereignty. There might also be a culture of military dependency on foreign powers already”.

Yes there is, Madam Senator, the JSOTF-P headquartered at Camp Navarro is what they call Cooperative Security Location or CSL and it looks like they are here to stay as what the US and our government said in support for the retention of the US troops in Mindanao. As what Executive Secretary and Anti-Terrorism Council Chairman Eduardo Ermita said that the presence of the JSOTF-P “enhance our security in the area and help pave the way for development.”

What is CSL? A Cooperative Security Location is a host-nation facility with little or no permanent US presence. CSLs will require periodic service, contractor and/or host nation support. CSLs provide contingency access and are a focal point for security cooperation activities. They may contain propositioned equipment. CSLs are: rapidly scalable and located for tactical use, expandable to become a FOS, forward and expeditionary. They will have no family support system. (From globalsecurity.org)

The fact that President Arroyo was assigned as the “coordinator” in this part of the region by US President Obama, there’s no point of discontinuing the military operations through the CSL. But what must be cleared now that they are using that large part of our country, especially the Mindanao region, as strategic location for what they call “war on terrorism” in Southeast Asia , our government must define the US government’s commitment to us as partner in this so-called “war”.

The US is not our enemy, and proven historically as very vital ally in terms of defending our democracy and sovereignty in times that we need their support. Although as a sovereign nation, we must remind them that they should be truthful in dealing with our government and be given what is due us, as a “loyal friend”.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Saber Rattling: Where Do We Side?

Saber Rattling: Where Do We Side?

By Erick San Juan

Saber rattling is an idiom which means a flamboyant display of military power... For example : There had been a great deal of saber rattling between the two nations but hostilities had never broken out. (from answers.com). What a very timely and fitting example of what is currently happening globally, particularly in our territory.

Why here? Historically, the Philippines has been known for its very strategic location, specially in the sea lanes. For contemporary geopolitical game, we are located strategically in that “ring around China ” that was designed by the likes of MacKinder, Huntington, Brzezinski and Kissinger. If we will allow this insanity, we will again put ourselves in a very bad situation.

Initially, we witnessed the presence of the air craft carrier USS George Washington that was docked 10 kilometers away from Manila Bay, for several days which they said was an act of "goodwill" and for humanitarian mission like medical and civic. Then again, a lot of people are suspicious of what could be the real score of such overwhelming “humanitarian mission” that must be carried out by a huge battleship. Or, could it be (as what others speculated over the internet thru e-mail) that they are actually “loading gold” in this aircraft carrier?

What about the continuing massive build up of China ’s strength in all aspects, especially within its military front, as cited regularly in Asia Times online. The promised “peaceful rise” of China is opposite to its undertaking in the military front specifically the war games dubbed as “Stride 2009” which will go on for two months. As what Kent Ewing wrote: “For the first time, forces from the four major regional military commands - stationed in the cities of Shenyang , Lanzhou , Jinan and Guangzhou - will all be engaged in live-fire drills at least 1,200 kilometers from their bases. Some soldiers will reportedly be involved in maneuvers as far as 1,600 kilometers from home. Previously, military exercises had only been conducted by troops under a single regional military command. This has led military analysts to speculate that one of the purposes of the war games is a test run for reforming the command system.” ( Asia Times Online, Aug. 18, 2009 )

China ’s “Stride 2009” is really making us, and the rest of its Asian neighbors really nervous, what more on the other side of the globe? Could this be the reason for the “humanitarian visit” of the USS George Washington? Are we being used, again, as a pretext to that grand chessboard designed towards the clash of civilization, and eventually a massive depopulation because of the weapons to be used this time will annihilate a huge part of the world.

Now, its very clear that we must take the side of our survival as a nation, united against this overwhelming superiority of big nations, after all they need us badly and we might as well play our cards strategically for our survival. God help us.


Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Unrestricted Warfare, The Untold Truth

Unrestricted Warfare, The Untold Truth

By Erick San Juan

Gen. Victor N. Corpus just launched a war book entitled America’s Dim Mak Points, Unrestricted Warfare in the 21st Century, showing the sophisticated weaponry that will be used in a future global war just in case it would erupt. It is interesting to note that an earlier book entitled Unrestricted Warfare by Col. Qiao Liang and Col. Wang Xiangsui, was published in February 1999; to prepare China for a future war against the US which they believe would be their worst enemy next time.

In his book, Gen. Corpus gave his readers the eight DIM MAK points where China can bring the US to its knees, namely : vulnerability to electro-information attack, dependency on foreign oil, US dollar vulnerability, diplomatic isolation, geographical military handicap, asymmetric vulnerability, satellite-based military command and control and aircraft carrier battle groups, then in contrast he enumerated (with photos) the advanced weaponry of the US, telling us that the US is prepared for the next war. Actually, this book was written to counterbalance the strategy of mainland China as what was written in the book by Col. Liang and Xiangsui’s Unrestricted Warfare. But I think Gen. Corpus overlooked the fact that America is not telling the truth. Why?

I have a copy of a confidential paper sent to me thru e-mail by an American friend coming from his source from the military industrial complex, stating that the next “unrestricted war” will be using killer lasers and satellites, and the so-called directed energy weapons, just like in the movies, which I see as a “futuristic war”. What is futuristic weapon? It is the “single most transforming weapon in history” like airborne lasers, active denial systems, relay mirrors experiment (RME), solid state laser (SSL), and ray guns. Now, is the world prepared for these weapons?

Another point, the US National Security Agency Director, Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander, presented at a hearing in the US Congress in May of this year the following : "Recently, the commander of StratCom delegated to myself under Net-Warfare the responsibility for directing the defense and operations of the [Global Information Grid] as well as our current operations of Net-Warfare so we have all those missions together so we can put the defense and offense together for the good of the department," Alexander tells the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities Tuesday at a hearing on DoD cybersecurity. "Now we are looking at the steps…of what we need to put together to ensure our networks are secure and provide us freedom of movement in cyberspace." (Source: Federal News Radio, 050609)

As of this writing, Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander, NSA Director, has set up the cyber command post at Fort Meade in Maryland , and reportedly the main link in the so called killer laser and satellite operation for the so called unrestricted warfare preemptive strike.

This is the untold truth. The truth of a looming bigger war of bigger nations and if we don’t unite to help our country, we are headed for a war that is not ours. And worst, it is already unfolding right before our eyes. On how US and China trying to outwit each other in every aspect especially in this part of the region.

Are we going to let them use us for such foolishness of going into that stupid war?