Remember this headline from the beginning of the month?
Fifteen more days to end the Marawi conflict and....wait a minute. That newspaper isn't from the beginning of this month.
It's from July 12th! Three months ago. Sorry for the mix up. Here's the headline I was looking for.
Right. So at the beginning of October, after failing to meet the self-imposed end of September deadline, the AFP declared hostilities would end by the 15th. As the final week arrived they became decidedly less confident.
No more deadlines? Sounds familiar doesn't it?
No more deadline's to end the Battle of Marawi and no more deadlines to defeat terrorism in the Philippines.
As the military makes its final push to liberate Marawi City, President Duterte yesterday said that Islamic State (IS)-inspired terrorists might simultaneously attack several other cities in Mindanao.
Mr. Duterte said IS-inspired terrorism would not go away in the next “seven to 10 years” and that they might attack next Zamboanga; Isabela, Basilan; and another city all “at the same time.”
“This terrorism inspired by (the IS) will not go in about seven to 10 years. There will be violence everywhere…They will not disappear. They will regroup anywhere and everywhere,” Mr. Duterte said in a speech at the groundbreaking of a military housing project in San Miguel, Bulacan.
“I’m warning you, the soldiers of the republic, what if they strike at five places at the same time? Zamboanga, maybe Basilan, Isabela — that is what’s coming into my office — and another major city,” he said.
That is decidedly less optimistic than his previous staments wherein Dutere has indicated terrorism will be stamped out within his term.
During the event Duterte assured the beneficiaries of the shelters that the government is pushing for federalism to address the conflict in Mindanao. He also vowed to address the threat posed by communist rebels once the Marawi crisis is over.
“We have to finish it otherwise the next generation would inherit this (problem),” Duterte said.
This has been a week of shifting policy decisions for Duterte's drug war and it seems as if the same is true for the war against terrorism. Only the most foolhardy would think they could eradicate a 500 year old problem. Terrorism is not going away and the AFP had better prepare accordingly. They need training and weapons. Luckily Russia, at the tail end of the Marawi conflict, has finally stepped up to the plate.
The Russian government will donate 5,000 rifles and military trucks to the Philippines to help in the country’s fight against terrorism.
“We will have the 5,000 sa inyo, baril (guns for you) Kalashnikov,” Duterte said in a speech here after he led the unveiling of the Scout Ranger Ville here.
Kalashnikov is a brand name of Russian-made assault rifles that was being used by the former Soviet Union. The famous among its product line is the AK-47, which is considered one of the most durable firearms around the world.
Oh yeah! AK-47 assault rifles! What a beautiful weapon with a legendary history. Who wouldn't want to have that baby as his own? This is great news.
There's just one problem. The AFP does not use AK-47s! They updated their equipment to M4s.
As part of its efforts to modernize the equipment of its troops, the Philippine Army has fully equipped its troops with Remington M4 carbine rifles after the final delivery of more than 12,000 firearms arrived last December.
This means that its procurement of 56,843 rifles, which will replace the M16 rifles issued to its troops, is now complete.
All throughout this conflict the USA has provided weapons and other equipment.
The weapons and equipment delivered under the US government’s Counterterrorism Train and Equip Program included 300 M4 carbines, 200 Glock 21 pistols, four M134D Gatling-style machine guns, 100 M203 grenade launchers and 25 new combat rubber raiding craft with outboard motors.
See how the Americans delivered 300 M4 rifles? Not M16s or AK-47s. M4s. That is because the AFP uses the M4 and not the M16 or AK-47. To have AK-47's on the field will just add further complications to the already beleaguered AFP. Where will the ammunition for these rifles come from? What if AK-47 ammo gets mixed up with M4 ammo? Wrong delivery means dead soldiers. Don't laugh and think its' only hypothetical. It is a very real possibility. This donation of AK-47s from Russia at the end of the battle is ridiculous. Putin should have just donated the money Duterte asked for so he could buy his own weapons.
The AFP has been executing it's final push in Marawi since August.
A month and a half later they are still in the stages of the final assault.
Final?
At any rate there is not much ground left to cover.
“Lives are at stake here. The lives of the soldiers and the hostages may be unnecessarily placed in danger if we rush,” he added.
“Our primordial consideration is the safety of the hostages and the noncombatants,” he said.
"Our primordial consideration is the safest of the hostages and noncombatants?" Really? Such a statement belies the first two months of battle where the AFP were urged to hurry it up and Duterte said don't worry about killing civilians. And "primoridial"? Did he mean primary?
And what about this?
President Duterte had in mind the welfare of about 2.5 million Filipinos working in the Middle East when he ordered the military to avoid destroying mosques during the battle against the Maute group in Marawi City.
Duterte said he is planning to go back to Marawi even amidst security concerns.
Apart from the safety of the hostages, Duterte said he does not want to show disrespect to Islam.
As president, Duterte said he needed to weigh the issues concerning religion and the road to peace and development as well as the welfare of Filipino workers abroad.
“Every time I sit down to decide before I sleep, whether to just allow the bombing of the mosques to end the fighting,” he said he had to listen to his military advisers.
Remember when Duterte said Islam is not the problem? Here Duterte is admitting that Islam IS the problem. What he is saying is that if he had bombed the mosques, which would have quickly ended the fighting since that's where everyone was holed up, the OFW's in the Middle East have been put at risk. At risk from what? Angry Muslims. Angry because their places of worship would have been destroyed. What does it matter if he shows disrespect to Islam? Duterte makes no bones about disrespecting the Catholic Church even calling the Pope a son of a whore.
As the AFP closes in on their positions Maute is not going down without a fight.
Desperate Maute extremists are using liquefied petroleum gas tanks and unexploded military ordnance to fight off advancing military troops, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said Friday.
Col. Romeo Brawner, deputy commander of Task Group Ranao, said Maute terrorists combine LPG with homemade bombs to make their own explosives.
"They used the unexploded ordnance. They rigged this to become IEDs (improvised explosive device) yun karamihan na-recover natin, but some are homemade," Brawner said.
These guys are proving to be very resourceful. Maute is also using tunnels and has other positions of which the AFP are not aware. You know who's to blame for not knowing about these tunnels and key positions? If you said the AFP is to blame for not expecting this kind of fight and being totally unprepared for urban warfare then you are......WRONG!
President Rodrigo Duterte Wednesday vowed to purge local governments in Marawi City as he criticized them for not informing him about the tunnels used as shelters by the Maute terrorists.
Duterte said the military is having a hard time in Marawi because the terrorists are familiar with the terrain.
“They have positions and yet we are not aware of it. I am blaming officials of the local government for that. I think I have to purge them. Nobody told us about the tunnels that similar to (those created by the) Viet Cong,” the president said during the unveiling of a military housing project here.
“They keep on running and we are having a hard time. Plus there are hostages,” he added.
That's right government officials
are to blame for not telling Duterte about the Maute Group's fighting tactics and positions
. Because
they would be intimately
familiar
with these kinds of things.
Not being prepared for this kind of situation only underscores the importance of proper training and the Americans are more than willing to show the Philippines how it is done.
Filipino soldiers learned urban warfare amid clashes in Marawi City where Marines have been battling ISIS-linked Maute terrorists since May 23.
“We need to improve in urban terrain, new equipment, sniping and counter sniping and night fighting system,” Marines chief Brig. Gen. Alvin Parreno told reporters.
He admitted that urban warfare was a new challenge for the Marines deployed in Marawi.
“On the first week, the first month it was a challenging new concept for us. We were able to learn. We learned to anticipate the movement of the enemy,” Parreno said of urban warfare.
If Brig. Gen. Alvin Parent is man enough to admit that the AFP was not prepared for urban warfare then Duterte should also be able to make that same admission. Blame shifting will not solve the problem. Only proper training will prepare the AFP for the urban warfare that Duterte warns is inevitable.
Even with the deaths of Isnilon Hapilon and Omar Maute the fight is far from over.
There will be others to take their place.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines is eying on targeting the Abu Sayyaf group and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters once the Marawi crisis ends in a vow to end terrorism in Mindanao.
AFP chief Eduardo Año said government forces would run after the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu and Basilan as well as the BIFF in Maguindanao. He also estimated that the crisis would be over by the end of December 2017.
“This will continue. There will be no let-up. It's about time to end these terrorists in Mindanao,” Año said.
Don't get too cocky and triumphant Año. Date setting isn't only bad for apocalyptic prophets.
This 500 year old fight isn't over by a long shot.
