In a setback to the campaign against terrorism in the Philippines, the commander of US forces in the Pacific said on Friday that a joint mission with Philippine troops to combat Muslim extremists will likely be postponed for six months.
Military officials said the delay was needed to allow the US to train several hundred additional Philippine troops in counterterrorism, and to buy time to break a months-long impasse over rules for the operation that would conform with the Philippine constitution.
The officer, Admiral Thomas Fargo, told reporters after meeting with top Philippine officials in Manila on Friday that the exercise would "probably be best conducted" after the training of special Philippine light-infantry troops is completed, which officials said would be in November or December. Until now, US and Philippine officials had said the exercise would likely begin this month or next.
"We'll have a bigger group of better trained Philippine troops under US supervision to do future counterterrorism activities," a senior US defense official explained. "It also provides time to continue working out the terms of reference to get it to everyone's satisfaction."
Fargo's remarks come just two weeks after President Bush reaffirmed Washington's commitment to send US troops to help root out Muslim militants in the southern Philippines. Western and Philippine officials say the southern Philippines has increasingly become a training ground for al-Qaeda's Southeast Asia affiliate, Jemaah Islamiyah, drawing recruits from several nations.
The delay also reflects a recognition that the Philippine military is not yet capable of effectively combatting terrorists on its own, and that legal prohibitions against US or other foreign troops fighting on Philippine soil cannot be easily circumvented.
"There will be people who view this is as a setback," said one US official. "But there are some times when instead of plowing ahead, maybe it's best to step back and see what we need to accomplish and how best to do it."
Postponing the exercise would mark the latest embarrassing detour in the two countries' efforts to combat an increasing threat from various extremist groups in the Philippines.
In February, the Pentagon said that it was ready to send 1,700 troops to fight terrorist groups in the southern Philippines. But that plan was stalled when Philippine officials balked, saying that their constitution did not permit for foreign troops to carry out combat missions.
In addition to confronting Jemaah Islamiyah, both nations have pledged to work together to hunt down members of Abu Sayyaf, a group of about 250 guerrillas who have kidnapped and beheaded foreign tourists and missionaries.
The American and Philippine governments are in broad agreement that several hundred US troops, including possibly Marines offshore, would join Philippine soldiers in a joint mission, probably on Jolo Island in the predominantly Muslim Sulu Province. This would build off a six-month training exercise last year that involved 1,300 US troops on nearby Basilan Island.
Operating out of Jolo would put the Americans in the middle of a very "active" area, one US official said, a busy smuggling route for people, drugs and weapons -- to say nothing about the movement of terrorists. The Americans expect to gain valuable intelligence in addition to capturing or killing Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, the official said.
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