Washington Post: Manila: U.S. had key role in deadly counterterrorism raid in Philippines
U.S. counterterrorism personnel played a hidden but key role in a bungled commando operation in the Philippines that resulted in dozens of deaths and a political scandal, according to a government investigation released Tuesday in Manila.
At least six Americans were present at a Philippine command post during the ill-fated January raid and supplied Philippine forces with surveillance data collected by U.S. aircraft, the investigation found. One of the Americans went so far as to order a Philippine army general to call in artillery fire, though the general angrily refused, investigators found.
More News On The Philippine Senate report Outlining The Role That The U.S. Played In The Botched Counter-Terrorism Raid That Resulted In 44 Philippine Policemen Being Killed
Botched Philippines counter-terror raid assisted by US: investigators -- Sydney Morning Herald
US Played 'Big Role' in Botched Philippine Raid -- Defense News/AFP
US Had 'Big Role' in Disastrous Philippine Raid, Senate Report Confirms -- Sputnik
US played ‘substantial’ role in botched Philippines raid -- Malaysian Insider
2 comments:
SSDD,
Didn't even take 50 years and 297 FOI requests, to find this out.
To be accurate, there have been US personnel in Philippines advising and supporting the Philippine military for some 50-odd years (I did a brief stint in the north, against the New Peoples' Army (NPA).)
My take is that it's a deadly example of a turf battle between their military and their police and now it's a political issue within the Philippine political establishment.
And - if I was Chinese (who have a history of backing the NPA, by the way,) or Russian, or pro-Islamist, or of a given political persuasion in the West, I'd be both ecstatic and milking it for all it's worth.
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