How would I know reading the Boston Globe?
See: The Boston Globe's Invisible Ink: Blackening Out Blackwater Assassins
You see, rubes like me aren't worthy of that information. That's why it never appeared in print out here in the sticks.
How many other things is the Globe concealing, obfuscating, or just giving the one-day, government pr press release?
"Elite US force will remain in S. Pacific; Afghanistan role ruled out for now" by Thom Shanker, New York Times | August 21, 2009
WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has decided to keep an elite 600-soldier counterinsurgency operation deployed in the Philippines despite pressure to reassign its members to fulfill urgent needs elsewhere such as Afghanistan or Iraq, according to Pentagon officials.
As if they aren't using squads there already!
What, does the MSM and Pentagon really take us for fools out here?
That how you gonna start the whole thing off?
The high-level attention given to the future of the force, known as the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines, illustrates the Pentagon’s difficulty in finding enough of these highly trained units for assignments to two wars - as well as for the wider effort to combat insurgencies and militancy in other parts of the world deemed to be threats to American interests.
Can't you just FEEL the DRAFT, young 'murkn?
Are they REALLY THREATS to American "security" or are the GOVERNMENT CREATED, FUNDED and DIRECTED "terrorists" a"threat" to SOMETHING ELSE?
Namely, the U.S. PUBLIC'S INCREASINGLY UNHAPPY ENGAGEMENT in EMPIRE?
Senior officials said the decision also acknowledged a cautionary lesson from Afghanistan: that battlefield success should be rewarded with sustained commitment, while prematurely turning the military’s attention elsewhere - as when the Bush administration shifted focus to Iraq - provides insurgents and terrorists the opportunity to rush back in.
Translation: We are NOT LEAVING ANYWHERE, young American.
Better get yer boots on; I'm glad I'm a broken-down old fart.
In the seven years that the Philippines-based American force has been operating, its members have trained local security units and provided logistical and intelligence support to Filipino forces fighting insurgents. Senior officials say the American force and partners in the CIA were instrumental in successes by the Filipino armed forces in killing and capturing leaders of the Abu Sayyaf group and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, antigovernment organizations operating in the southern Philippines.
Yeah, I'LL BET!!!
In a simultaneous counterinsurgency effort in the Philippines, members of the American force have completed hundreds of infrastructure projects, including roads, schools, health clinics, and firehouses, conducted medical examinations, and administered vaccines.
Gee, American, DON'T YOU WISH OUR GOVERNMENT would GIVE THOSE THINGS to US -- except for the last two, of course.
Admiral Timothy J. Keating, commander of American forces in the Pacific, said the force’s work was not yet done. “The successes we enjoy, and the gains, can tend to anesthetize us a little bit,’’ he said. “When the options were presented to our leadership, the decision was made to continue the Philippines mission.’’
Before making his decision, Gates visited the Philippines in June. Then, Leon E. Panetta, the CIA director, followed with an unannounced visit in July - underscoring the tight link between the military and intelligence efforts.
Of course, it is OKAY if OUR ASSASSINS ROAM the planet!
Related: The CIA's kill teams were modeled on Israel's hit squads
Arms seized on ship in Philippines
The captain and crew of a cargo ship seized near Manila with crates of illegal Israeli-made weapons on board are to face gun-smuggling charges, officials in the Philippines have said. Customs and coast guard officers searched the Philippine-owned ship MV Captain Ufuk after suspicions were raised when it docked at a port near Bataan province without prior notice, officials said on Friday....
the mostly Georgian crew did not speak English, and failed to provide any documentation to prove the cargo was legitimate.... A map found on board showed the Panama-registered vessel had sailed from a port in Turkey."
Well, THAT SURE is something I'm NOT SEEING in my Boston Globe -- as opposed to pirates, North Korean ships, and the mysterious disappearance of that Russian freighter.
Okay, back to the CIA death squads:
Even independent, nongovernmental organizations that normally cast a skeptical eye toward American military efforts have commended the Philippines operation.
“In general, the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines has been regarded as a success story, especially in terms of winning hearts and minds through civic action and medical assistance projects,’’ said Mark L. Schneider, senior vice president of the International Crisis Group.
How come MY OWN GOVERNMENT DOESN'T WANT TO WIN my heart and mind, world?
Schneider noted, however, that the insurgency in the Philippines “is a political problem first and foremost’’ and that no military effort alone can bring success against antigovernment forces.
Blah-blah.
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Oh, btw, HERE is HOW we are WINNING the HEARTS and MINDS of the FILIPINOS!
First, an INVISIBLE INKER!
MANILA - Philippine troops suffered one of their worst losses in an offensive against Al Qaeda-linked militants on a southern island that left at least 23 soldiers and 20 guerrillas dead, officials said today.
Troops continued to scour the battlefield following clashes yesterday with Abu Sayyaf militants in two jungle camps on Basilan Islan, and the tally of slain militants could rise, said Major General Benjamin Dolorfino.
Although weakened by yearslong US-backed offensives, about 400 Abu Sayyaf gunmen on Basilan and nearby Jolo Island and the Zamboanga peninsula have recently turned to ransom kidnappings to raise funds for terror attacks.
And just think, America; the press keeps it hidden from you except for these one-day slips where they can claim they reported it -- if they even report it.
Related: Boston Sunday Globe Censorship: Covering Up Cheney's Crimes
Slow Saturday Special: Cheney's CIA Assassination Teams
They were "never active," huh?
More than 400 marine, army, and police commandos launched simultaneous, predawn attacks yesterday on two Abu Sayyaf encampments in hilly Silangkum and Baguindan villages, sparking fierce daylong fighting. The clashes killed 20 marines and 3 army members, including two officers, in one of the biggest single-day military battle losses in recent years, Dolorfino said. Troops also found the bodies of 20 militants in Baguindan.
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It's the same kind of reporting wherever you go in the war-propaganda press we call newspapers here.
Pick a country, pick a "Muslim insurgency" and awaaaaaay we go, 'eh, Globe?
"Suspected militant training camps stormed; 23 Filipino soldiers killed" by Carlos H. Conde, International Herald Tribune | August 14, 2009
MANILA - In one of the deadliest clashes in the southern Philippines in recent years, at least 31 suspected terrorists and 23 soldiers were killed as government troops stormed training camps of the Islamist militant group Abu Sayyaf, military officials said yesterday.
More than 400 soldiers and police commandos launched predawn attacks Wednesday against the group’s jungle camps on Basilan, an island province in the southern Philippines.
Abu Sayyaf, which was founded on Basilan in 1991 with the aim of establishing a fundamentalist Islamic state, has been linked by Western and Asian intelligence agencies to Al Qaeda and is on a United States government list of foreign terrorist organizations.
"Al-CIA-Duh," huh?
Although weakened in recent years, the group continues to have a presence in the south, with ambushes of government forces and kidnappings of aid workers and journalists.
Yeah, "they" ALWAYS DO!!!
Abu Sayyaf, military officials say, has increasingly degenerated into kidnapping, extortion, and banditry, using ransom payments to finance its operations.
I guess that IS ANOTHER WAY the FALSE-FLAGGING BLACK OPERATORS of BLACKWATER could FUND OPERATIONS and GAIN PROFITS -- in addition to running and protecting the drug rings in the area!
The raids in Basilan began at 3 a.m. Wednesday and lasted until evening, Dolorfino said. The camps were being used for explosives training, according to an army spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Romeo Brawner Jr.
So did you guys get the CIA man in charge of it all, or.... ?
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