Editorial:
Thwart US aggression

Basahin ang artikulong ito sa Pilipino

Threat of US military aggression, sign of ruling system's further decay

In the face of this, the revolutionary forces and the people have stepped up their opposition and resistance alongside the growing opposition of the Filipino people and the world's peoples to US plans to attack Iraq.

Due to widespread resistance, the thoroughly shamefaced Malaca�ang-US tandem has been forced to withdraw its initial plan to allow American troops into Sulu in February under the pretext of Balikatan 03-1 and fighting the Abu Sayyaf.

Given this situation, the US State Department and Malaca�ang have come up with a scheme to drown out the cries of opposition to the all-our terrorist war and the deployment of American troops. It was Gen. Angelo Reyes and US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld who decided on this plan.

To make it appear that it was necessary to intensify the war and seek "America's assistance," the AFP is currently sowing a terror campaign simultaneous with a political campaign to show the need for America's help.

The scheme includes the bombing at the Davao International Airport on March 4 that killed more than 20 innocent civilians and wounded more than a hundred others. Right after the incident, the AFP was quick to blame the MILF and NPA. The US was also quick to offer "assistance," to which a chorus of politicians and the AFP responded with appeals to allow the entry of American troops.

The Macapagal-Arroyo regime and its US imperialist master have long been itching to have US forces train their guns directly at the revolutionary movement. It was Macapagal-Arroyo herself who first asserted that Balikatan 03-1 be launched in Southern Tagalog, where the revolutionary movement has scored significant victories.

The announcement of plans to hold Balikatan 03-1 in Mindoro Occidental may be considered an act of provocation by foreign troops against the revolutionary movement.

At present, there are at least 1,300 American interventionist troops in various parts of the Philippines ostensibly for training exercises. But their long-term goal is to prepare for direct deployment in the counterguerrilla war against the NPA and MILF.

One of the possible plans being hatched by the US and its puppet regime is launching massive military aggression a la Vietnam. As the revolutionary movement continues to expand and gain strength, the reactionary regime scrambles to intensify war. It is desperate for US military assistance and the US military's direct participation.

The Bush-Arroyo cabal is extremely hard put how to railroad its plans to intensify US military intervention in the face of growing and expanding opposition.

Its initial plans of deploying American troops for combat in Sulu were strongly assailed by various sectors, senators and congressmen. It has been declared "the vilest form of treachery" committed by the Macapagal-Arroyo regime.

No satisfactory or legal basis could be given for the deployment of American troops for combat, even under the pretext of the war against the Abu Sayyaf.

The people of Sulu have likewise assailed the plan. It has rekindled memories of the brutal carnage experienced by the people on the island at the hands of American occupation troops in 1901 and raised their consciousness anew against foreign occupation.

The people and the revolutionary movement stand ready to resist measures leading to direct US armed aggression in the Philippines. The people and the revolutionary movement will not be cowed by threats from a rotting regime and an imperialist mired in crisis. In various parts of Mindanao, the Moro people likewise stand ready to wage resistance. American troops who intervene in Sulu, they say, will be made to pay for their blood debts.

More than ever, the revolutionary movement is rapidly advancing and gaining strength. To thwart the US-Macapagal-Arroyo regime's evil scheme, it stands ready to engage in all arenas of struggle: armed and unarmed, legal and illegal, open and underground, in the countryside and cities, within and outside the country.

Worsening military intervention and the growing danger of direct US military aggression are signals of a further major deterioration in the rotten semicolonial and semifeudal system.

The people and the revolutionary movement will resist every scheme by the USMacapagal- Arroyo regime to implement and expand US military intervention. In the event of military aggression, all stops will be pulled to resist it until the attacking American troops are driven out.

07 March 2003
English Edition

	Editorial: Thwart US aggression
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