Dummy's Crusade Moves to Philippines - US Troops in South Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit [After years of claiming that the weird Philippine Abu Sayyaf cult is a front for another of its many "enemies," Muammar Qaddafi (whose government was actually the first in the world to indict Osama bin Laden for terrorism), the US has now decided the bizarre Abu Sayyaf kidnappers group are part of al-Qaeda. Whatever, it hardly matters. They never want to ask WHY these murderous groups exist. They just want more targets. The US military has been in the Philippines for so long that a few more of Uncle Sam's killing machines will hardly be noticed by the population, except perhaps in the southern part of the island nation where they are now on their Great Terror Crusade. Have fun in the jungle, boys.] BBC - Dec 14, 2001 http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/asia-pacific/newsid_1710000/171036=6.stm US troops land in south Philippines US troops have arrived in the southern Philippines in the latest secretive visit following a deal between the two countries to work together in the fight against terrorism. US military advisors have made a number of trips to the Philippines to train troops in their hunt for the Muslim separatist group Abu Sayyaf. "We can't say what their purpose is" ...Lieutenant Colonel Danilo Servando The US has linked the Abu Sayyaf with Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, suspected of carrying out the 11 September attacks on New York and Washington. News of the latest US visit - described by a military spokesman as "sensitive" - came amid rising expectations that the Philippine military was about to mount a mission to rescue two US hostages and a Filipino held by the rebels. Martian and Gracia Burnham, Christian missionaries from Witchita, Kansas, were snatched from a western Philippines tourist resort in May along with about 17 Filipinos who have since been killed or released for ransom. The Burnhams were taken to the Abu Sayyaf stronghold of Basilan island, where they are being held with nurse Deborah Yap. A third American captured with them, Guillermo Sobero from California, was found beheaded. The Abu Sayyaf says it is fighting for a separate Islamic state, but kidnapping has been its main activity. An unspecified number of US soldiers arrived by cargo plane at Edwin Andrews air base, close to Zamboanga city, on Friday. They are members of "Special Operations Command" of the Hawaii-based US Pacific Command, said Lieutenant Colonel Danilo Servando. "We can't say what their purpose is," he said. Two groups of US military advisers made preliminary visits to Zamboanga city and Basilan island earlier this month and in October to assess barracks and training facilities. On Thursday a senior Philippine military commander said troops were closing in on the Abu Sayyaf faction holding the Burnhams and hoped to rescue the Americans in a few days. "We have zeroed in on our objective. We hope and pray we will really attain this objective," said Lieutenant-General Roy Cimatu. Soldiers pursuing the rebels have tied yellow ribbons around the their guns, using the well-known symbol of homecoming "This is a reminder to our soldiers about the necessity of conducting the safe rescue of the hostages so that they can all go back to their families come Christmas," said the general. [In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information see: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytas-12.15.01-23:08:50-25148