In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the U.S. dispatched a military team to the Philippines to help the Manila government root out militant Islamic extremist groups. The terrorist threat is seen as much diminished since then but still active. The military mission remains in the Philippines as part of the U.S.-led global anti-terrorism campaign.
Rocky Zeender spent two years on what he calls the “forgotten front” of the war on terrorism - the Philippines.
"Nobody knows about it. Right now all the funding and all the military support is going into the Middle East. And by no means is the Philippines as large of a front as the Middle East. However, it does provide an enormous safe haven for some radical members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front or Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah to come and train in," Zeender said.
As a member of the U.S. Special Forces, a “Green Beret”, Zeender slogged through the jungles and across mountains of the southern Philippines with Philippine troops from 2008 to 2010 looking for militant Islamist groups, some of whom have had links to al-Qaida.
Rocky Zeender spent two years on what he calls the “forgotten front” of the war on terrorism - the Philippines.
"Nobody knows about it. Right now all the funding and all the military support is going into the Middle East. And by no means is the Philippines as large of a front as the Middle East. However, it does provide an enormous safe haven for some radical members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front or Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah to come and train in," Zeender said.
As a member of the U.S. Special Forces, a “Green Beret”, Zeender slogged through the jungles and across mountains of the southern Philippines with Philippine troops from 2008 to 2010 looking for militant Islamist groups, some of whom have had links to al-Qaida.
(Excerpt) Read more at voanews.com ...
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