Armed separatist Muslim guerrillas of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Maguindanao province, southern Philippines on October 4. A university official kidnapped by Islamic militants has been freed by his captors after four days in captivity, police said Tuesday. (AFP/File/Mark Navales)The Philippines: America's Other War On Terrorism
-- McClatchy Washington
-- McClatchy Washington
CAMP BAUTISTA, Philippines — It's movie night at the U.S. military enclave on this Filipino military base, and dozens of giggling young boys and girls jostle their way into a free show in a modest wood-frame building that formerly housed a bar named Rusty's Grill.
Each child's price of admission to the animated film "Robots," plus a bottle of water and a small paper bag of popcorn, is to accept a squirt of hand sanitizer — a brief lesson in basic hygiene.
Welcome to America's other war on terror.
Since the Sept. 11 attacks more than seven years ago, President Bush has waged a worldwide assault on Islamic militants from Iraq to Afghanistan to the Horn of Africa that's relied overwhelmingly on U.S. military force, harsh treatment of detainees and tough talk. Winning "hearts and minds," at least until recently, has been an afterthought.
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My Comment: The war against Islamic fundamentalists in the Philippines is one of the most under reported stories of the year.