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U.S. Special Forces Arrive in Philippines
Wednesday, January 16, 2002
By Steve Vogel
The Washington Post

In expansion of war on terrorism, troops to aid fight against guerrillas

U.S. Special Forces have begun arriving in the Philippines to assist Philippine troops in their fight against Muslim guerrillas linked to Osama bin Laden, a significant expansion of the U.S. war on terrorism outside Afghanistan.

Although the deployment is a training exercise, the U.S. troops in February will accompany front-line Filipino forces on patrols in guerrilla-threatened areas in the southern Philippines. Approximately 650 U.S. soldiers, including 160 Special Forces, will take part in the exercise, defense officials said Tuesday.

“It is not a modest number, it's several hundred plus,” Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said in an interview with radio journalists. “But it is a group of people that are going to be with the Philippine forces for the purpose of training.”
(More: Albany Times Union News Source)
2002 © The Washington Post.

And the beat goes on,
Dan