My Own Take on THE MAMASAPANO MASSACRE

 

 BY GENE FAJARDO PAGKANLUNGAN

According to the U.S. Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms, a covert operation (also as CoveOps or covert ops) is "an operation that is so planned and executed as to conceal the identity of or permit plausible denial by the sponsor." 

It is intended to create a political effect which can have implications in the military, intelligence or law enforcement arenas. Covert operations aim to fulfill their mission objectives without any parties knowing who sponsored or carried out the operation."

This best describes Operation Wolverine/Exodus which was implemented on January 25, 2015, and unfortunately led to the death of 44 Special Action Force (SAF) officers. These men were executed by Moro rebels during the bloody encounter as shown by video footage in which the SAF soldiers were repeatedly shot even as they laid dead on the ground. 

As of  this writing,  details of Operation Wolverine remain sketchy, gossipy, and blurred. Let's go back to the definition, “ a covert op conceals the identity of the sponsor.”

President Benigno Aquino in the latter days, owned up and took full responsibility for the debacle, after much delay and after enormous outrage from the Philippine citizenry. 

BUT THE TRUTH IS FAR FROM COMING OUT.  It will not come out, in fact.  

WHY?  By its very nature. It is a covert operation, after all.  So Mar Roxas, the Army and those who profess not knowing it, shouldn't  know about it or should not say they knew about it.  

Even the Americans who, people say, were involved in the Op, are not telling you and me. 

Then the proper question to ask is this and what I want to get clarification on -  this simple question: WHY OPERATION WOLVERINE WAS CARRIED OUT?

And it was answered early on.  Operation Wolverine had to be carried out to get Zulkifli bin Hir  aka “Marwan,” the Malaysian Muslim terrorist, and his ally, expert bomb-maker,  Abdul Basit Usman.

 

Marwan was killed during Operation Wolverine

These two men were on the U.S Federal Bureau of Investigation's  (FBI) top list of international terrorists.

Let’s look at the facts how these two men ended up on the America’s MOST WANTED LIST.

Marwan was known as the “Osama bin Laden of Southeast Asia.”  He is believed to head the Kumpulun Mujahidin Malaysia (KMM), a member organization of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terrorist network.

The Kumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia (KMM), or Malaysian Mujahideen Movement, is/was a terrorist organisation that supported an overthrow of the Mahathir government and is/was for the creation of a pan-regional Islamic state comprising southern Thailand, the entirety of Indonesia and the southern Philippines. 

KMM is believed to be self-financing and is often tied in correlation to smaller more extremist groups in Southeast Asia.

According to his profile in the FBI, Marwan had used two dates of birth – Jan. 5, 1966 and Oct. 5, 1966. He weighs 120 pounds and is 5 feet 6 inches tall.

Marwan – supposedly able to speak Malaysian, English, Tagalog and Arabic – is believed to have been staying in the southern Philippines since 2003, where he has conducted bomb-making training for the Abu Sayyaf group. He allegedly taught Azahari Husin, known as the “demolition man” who supposedly masterminded the 2002 Bali attack, how to create explosive devices.

According to Philstar (Feb 5, 2015) report,  “ On Aug. 1, 2007, Marwan was indicted in the US District Court, Northern District of California, and charged with “providing material support to terrorists, conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, contributing goods and services to a specially designated global terrorist and making false statements.”

In the Bali attack, 202 people were killed.  According to Wikipedia “The 2002 Bali bombings occurred on 12 October 2002 in the tourist district of Kuta on the Indonesian island of Bali. The attack killed 202 people (including 88 Australians, 38 Indonesians, 27 Britons, 7 Americans, 6 Swedes and 3 Danes). A further 209 people were injured."

Various members of Jemaah Islamiyah, a violent Islamist group, were convicted in relation to the bombings, including three individuals who were sentenced to death. 

An audio-cassette purportedly carrying a recorded voice message from Osama Bin Laden stated that the Bali bombings were in direct retaliation for support of the United States' war on terror and Australia's role in the liberation of East Timor.”

Osama Bin Laden, who founded Al-Qaeda was responsible for the 1988 bombing of the U.S embassy in which hundreds of people were killed in simultaneous truck bomb explosions at the embassies of the United States in two East African cities – Dar es Salaam, the largest city of Tanzania, and Nairobi, the capital and largest city of Kenya. 

Later on, Bin Laden’s A-Qaeda slaughtered close to 3,000 individuals in the September 11, 2001 attack on the Twin Towers, the World Trade Center in New York City.  He was neutralized and finally killed on May 2, 2011 in Pakistan by operatives of the U.S. Navy Seal.

Marwan’s links to Al-Qaeda is clear.  Marwan’s link to Abu-Sayyaf, clearer.  And Marwan’s objective to further murder people is utmost clear. So he had to be neutralized. And it happened in the January 25, 2015 Operation Wolverine.

The real angle of Operation Wolverine has been re-angled by popular sentiment. The focus has set on why the soldiers had to die, who ordered the op, who is to blame, etc. 

The real issue is :  A terrorist being protected by Islamist terrorists had to be hunted down through a covert operation. Those brave SAF officers knew of their mission. They knew of military tactics and covert operations. END OF STORY.

Proud Mary

It was 1969 when the group, Creedence Clearwater Revival,  recorded what became a big hit, PROUD MARY. Today, the song is a staple in karaoke sessions, embedded in song chips. Nice melody and lyrics.

The Days of Wine and Roses.

Frank Sinatra of the olden days and of recent years, Michael Buble. Both are balladeers who dish out the romantic tunes and catch everyone's eyes with the un-loosened tie and impeccable shirt and suit.

Jazz is their genre. Jazz is the sophisticated music. Where the clubs are dimly lit, and the sax player goes onstage or below, and everyone tap their wine glass or hum the tune as the artist plays.

I miss jazz; I miss the  memories around jazz.

The days of wine and roses.

Happy and Thankful

The streets all over the U.S.A could either be quiet or so busy, at this, their Thanksgiving Day.

Many years ago, I used to celebrate American Thanksgiving with my two sisters and their families in Ohio. It was always a  wonderful day.

Thanksgiving in the U.S.A is a not a religious holiday; it is a day to commemorate the first Thanksgiving when a meal was shared between the whites and the native Americans, which is a symbol of acceptance, love and unity.

Today, Thanksgiving is a time to thank the Creator and all the people for having done magnificent things and deeds to us.

So, Thanksgiving, aside from being non-denominational, should also be celebrated globally. In Canada, our Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the second Monday in October.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY TO ALL.

Foreign Beat.

Two Englishmen got into a scuffle with local security at a private residential-shopping complex, because they were skateboarding in a busy area that was off limits to skateboarders.

Bingo. The Englishmen suffered concussions; the management apologized for the local security's mishandling of the matter.

Prior to the fracas, the foreigners said they were first accosted by the local police and told not to skateboard on the busy street and to skateboard at a nearby park, which they promptly did. This is where the private security guards caught them and were told otherwise.

I lived most of my life in the Philippines, although I lived for twenty plus years in the U.S and Canada, and I witnessed how the locals react and treat foreign people. The locals give preference and nicer service and more respect to the foreigners than to the locals - their compatriots.

The locals do this all the time, because they want the visitors to feel special.

I've resented this outlook and action so many times. I'd been a victim of and a voice against this preferential treatment. I just want the same kind of treatment, service, and courtesy.

One time at the International Airport where I drove my sister and my bro-in-law for their trip back to the United States, the private security guards shooed us away as they did the other locals for staying more than the required short minutes at the drop-off area. The manner it was done was embarrassing - like it was a military drill where they held hands as a human chain and swept towards the people so we could immediately leave. Even my prim and proper medical doctor-sister was insulted by the whole scenario, as I blurted out " ano ito Martial Law?" (what is this, martial law?).

Another time, I was driven to the airport for my trip to Canada and the security people rudely asked my wife and daughter not to linger outside the departure area but I saw how the same security tolerated a foreigner and his local girlfriend who were saying the longest, romantic goodbyes right outside the cordoned-off area.

These are examples of the reverse-treatment given to foreigners and to locals, and a lot of times, they backfire, like the recent incident at the Bonifacio Global. Of course, there is the cultural thing, too.

The locals are submissive to foreigners, (years of subjugation by the foreign powers and lack of savvy dealing and talking with the foreigners) and arrogant towards the locals, whom they can bully, because like them, the locals would easily submit.

The locals get offended if a local asserts his/her rights and s/he is called "mayabang."  But when a foreigner demands what s/he is entitled to, the locals give in.

I think what happened at the BGC is this: The local police explained to the British what the skate boarding policy was and they followed it, because they transferred to the park. Then the private security questioned them (again), politely,  I assume, because of the locals' inherent politeness with foreigners. The Brits then assertively told the security guys, back off, police said we can skateboard here. Local security felt "insulted" at the affront way the Brits answered them, reacted and boom, all hell broke loose.

Lesson learned:  Management people: Teach assertiveness to your people. People: Learn assertiveness not aggressiveness.

And apply it to both locals and foreigners, and in whatever situation you are in. In offices, dealing with peers or superiors, in social or church groups, even in families.

Assertiveness is not rudeness. Aggressiveness is.

Passionately Silent.

War rages on in Iraq and Jordan, in Ukraine, in the Gaza Strip. There's also turbulence in many city streets, slums, and ghettos globally.

Another form of turmoil is taking place in Scotland as the Scots will vote in a referendum on whether to break away from UK. In Spain, Catalonia is thinking of leaving the nation.

Why these perpetual chaos and discontent?

Many years ago in India, a man named Mahatma Gandhi waged a war of silence. He used peace to get peace. He employed non-violent civil disobedience to protest against British rule and taxes. 

Assuming leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns for easing poverty, expanding women's rights, building religious and ethnic amity, ending untouchability but above all for achieving Swaraj or self-rule.

Gandhi emerged victorious, because in 1947, England gave India independence.

No lives were lost in this peaceful revolt, except for Gandhi's when an assassin put three bullets into his chest at close range.

 

Purposely Joyful.

When I was five, I always saw myself seated in a plane...as a pilot. Then I grew up.

In high school, I was convinced by a resource speaker that I wanted to study in a University located in big forest town, to take up Agriculture.

But Daddy prevailed, so I took a Science course; after a semester, I shifted to the study of politics, and entered the College of Law at Diliman.

Are you like me and perhaps, thousands of others, who cannot make up their minds when in comes to our life long careers?

Back to my story, I ended up taking a master's degree in business administration, and later on, helped people find training and employment in their profession and trade in the new country in which they chose to live in - Canada.

As kids, most of us dream of becoming big name stars - in business, science, arts and sports.

We see ourselves like our parents, perhaps, or as our idols in the big screen. We often pattern our behaviour and action after our favorite toys and their TV or film personas. Today, tots hold Mega trons, or Ironman, Spiderman, and other comic hero-toys in their hands as if these were real-people playmates and friends.

We also see ourselves as our role models, our teacher, doctor, priest, pastor, fireman, policeman, politician.

But when it comes to really deciding what role to play in our real, mature life, a lot of us become clueless, or just go with what our parents tell us to do, or be guided by the market's employment demand.

The juice or the real dream fades quickly.

To discover your real purpose and real joy in life and BEGIN TO MELD THEM TOGETHER are what will make you really happy in life.

Successful personas followed their hearts and their dreams ultimately, even if at first, some had been derailed.

Bill Gates, although rich to start with, dropped out of college, and built his own company, following what his heart dictated to him.

Babe Ruth, called the "Bambino,"  was sent to a reformatory school at age 7, and rose to become a legend in baseball.

Mother Teresa left her biological family at age 18 and became a nun of St. Loreto, and left this mission and in 7 October 1950 started the diocesan congregation that would become the Missionaries of Charity.

Pope St. John Paul II was an actor, then followed his heart and became a priest, became a Pope and a Saint.

Jesus Christ was a carpenter by trade, but dropped his tools, and followed His heart and His Father, and became Our Saviour.

To become glad and joyful, we all must be honest with ourselves first. We cannot lie to ourselves and expect us to be happy. Think of the job that makes you happy and feel fulfilled at doing, prepare or train for it, and do it.

Of course, criminal activities or illegal jobs are a BIG NO.

If you are happy doing what you are doing, you'd be good at doing it and you'd spread that joy to every person you come in contact with. You infect the world you move in, in your own little way, and maybe later, in a really big way.