another casualty of the US-led war on terror

The US-led war on terror is a total and complete failure. While most of the attention has been focused on the daily bombings and mounting death toll in Iraq, let's not forget that other countries are having to play "host" to the US military for "counter-terrorism" exercises. For example, in 1999 the United States entered an agreement with the Philippine government (certainly NOT the Philippine people) that would provide the US military with over 22 ports of access to conduct "training" exercises with the Philippine military . . . this deal, signed into law against massive public protest, came to be known as the Visiting Forces Agreement or VFA. One of the provisions of the VFA, and one that has alarmed many activists in the country, states that any crimes committed against the Philippine people by members of the US military, will be dealt with by the United States. Once again, the soveriegnty of a country is completely trampled by the United States. Let's not forget that a massive anti-bases campaign was waged in the Philippines during the 1990s to close the two US military installations in the country (Clark Air Force Base and Subic Bay) which was successful and represented a major victory for the Philippines. Just a few years later the introduction and ratification of the VFA effectively negated this short termed "victory".

Fast forward to Oct. 31/Nov. 1 2005: A 22-year old Filipina woman was gang-raped by 6 US marines in Subic. After hanging out with the men at a karaoke bar, she was invited to join them in their rented van. When she did this, witnesses (including the van driver--who has allegedly gone into hiding to avoid being implicated in the case) claim she was raped by the 6 marines and then tossed out of the van unconscious on the side of the road. WHERE WAS THE MEDIA COVERAGE? To be expected, the Marines are being held in the US embassy in Manila, but have requested they be moved (under the terms of the VFA) to Okinawa for the remainder of the investigation. I'll keep you posted, should this happen.

Now the Philippines is not the only country that has lost their sovereignty to US interests, or had their people terrorized by US military exercises under the guise of "Visiting Forces Agremeents". But, as a neo-colony of the United States, the Philippines is a perfect example of how this "war on terror" impacts other countries not being directly bombed . . . and, we need to demand justice and accountability from our military when this kind of atrocious shit happens--and it happens ALL THE TIME.

To think, after all this country had to endure with the images of prisoners being tortured in Abu-Ghraib, Cheney and his minions would be pressing for the US to be allowed to torture to get information from "combatants." And, now, the US military will probably do all it can to protect these 6 marines from facing prosecution for the crimes they have committed. Who are the real terrorists?