Stop US military intervention in the Philippines!
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following press statement from the National Democratic Front of the Philippines International Information Office
“Direct US military intervention in the Philippines is escalating. We call on international friends to condemn this and demand the immediate withdrawal of US troops!” thus declared Luis G. Jalandoni, Chief International Representative of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).
Jalandoni issued the statement yesterday, citing reports on the US Operation Pacific Angel 12-1 which starts today in the Bicol region, south of Manila in Luzon.
An undisclosed number of American soldiers belonging to the 13th US Air Force are reported to be flown to Albay province and carry out military and civil-military operations with the Armed Forces of the Philippines from 5-10 March 2012.
The US 13th Air Force is equipped with advanced aerial surveillance capabilities. It is able to launch unmanned surveillance vehicles. This US Air Force unit had been tasked last year to deploy an unmanned spy plane in North Korea to provide the US with a detailed view of North Korea's military.
“The escalating US military intervention in areas of the liberation struggles of the Filipino people and the Moro people is fraught with great danger. It can ignite an armed conflict between the resistance fighters and the interventionist US troops,” Jalandoni warned.
He issued a strong call to international friends to oppose this violation of the national sovereignty of the Filipino people. “This unjust intervention must be stopped!” he declared. Jalandoni cited the militant international support of the Kent State students in the US in May 1970 and other international acts of solidarity which helped stop the US war of aggression against Vietnam in the 1970s. “The anguished cry of Mary Ann Vecchio kneeling over the bullet-ridden body of Jeffrey Miller is a stark reminder of US aggression,” said Jalandoni.