Frustrate Oplan Gordian Knot!
Oplan Gordian Knot is the new name given by AFP chief of staff Benjamin Defensor to the counterrevolutionary war. Its objective is to intensify the war and inveigle the revolutionary forces into engaging in a conflict conducted on purely military terms.
Oplan Gordian Knot is based on Oplan Bantay Laya which was drafted by Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes on July 17, 2002. It is no different from previous plans, except for Defensor's directive to use "any and all means," which blatantly endorses a war without rules and widespread military abuses against the people.
It stresses the escalation of conflict, intelligence work and psywar. Due to the difficulty of defeating the revolutionary movement, it stresses the "collaboration, coordination and concentration" of their forces for "stronger, faster and deadlier" resistance to the revolutionary movement.
Intensified military operations
The AFP and PNP have been launching coordinated and concentrated military operations in Bulacan, Zambales, Pangasinan, Cagayan Valley and Northeastern Mindanao in addition to fronts in Mindoro, Bohol, Davao Oriental, Davao del Norte, Negros, Quezon, Laguna, Bicol, Leyte and Aurora that have already been prioritized previously.
In this regard, the AFP and PNP have been beefing themselves up. No less than P9 billion will be added to the AFP's 2003 budget for additional forces, CAFGU expan sion, arms procurement and other expenses. The AFP has pinned its hopes on forthcoming military aassistance from the US in the form of Balikatan-type joint military exercises, "advice," weapons and actual covert coordinated operations of AFP and American troops.
Psywar
Oplan Gordian Knot's essential element is the intensification of psywar campaigns whose objective is to portray the CPP and NPA as "terrroists" and "criminals". Towards this end, they disseminate the dirtiest and most baseless propaganda to incite fear and hatred against the NPA. They tarnish the revolutionary integrity of the NPA by cooking up issues such as "mass graves" (the exhumation, or discovery of burial places, of supposed NPA victims), "the imposition of all kinds of taxes that burden the masses," "the collection of protection money from jueteng operations because they are going hungry," "the existence of big marijuana plantations," "the masterminding of bombings" and "the killing of innocent civilians." Even if tactical offensives hit legitimate targets, the former are portrayed as "acts of terrorism."
In a related development, Malaca�ang and the AFP have been actively pressuring the mass media. Not only radio and television stations but national and local newspapers are also being pressured not to give time or space to spokespersons of the Party, the NPA and the revolutionary movement, or to downplay the relevance of news regarding the latter.
Bayan Muna is being maliciously linked to the armed revolutionary movement to make it a target of military operations. They are deathly afraid of Bayan Muna because it enjoys widespread support from the people.
The regime makes it appear that it is interested in peace talks through its "single peace agreement," and its "local peace talks" and "local peace zones" schemes that have no oher objective but to effect the surrender of the revolutionary forces.
"Civac" against the NPA
Macapagal-Arroyo desperately wants to "snatch the sympathy" of the people away from the revolutionary movement, especially in the countryside. She also desperately wants to make it appear that the people support her antipeople measures. Towards this end, the regime has directed the all-out mobilization of the bureaucracy from the national agencies to the barangay level.
It conducts anti-communist conferences, rallies and gatherings using barangay officials, vigilante groups, its assets within the church, Contras, surrenderees and police-civilian organizations.
It also conducts "socio-economic" projects for show to deceive the people and create the impression that the government addresses the people's needs.
OPLAN GORDIAN KNOT will surely result in worse abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law by the military, especially with the call to undertake "any and all means" to destroy the revolutionary movement. Defensor has openly granted his commanders the authority to forget the rules for now.
Oplan Gordian Knot and the "all-out war" must be resisted and thwarted by advancing all aspects of revolutionary work: in the military field, the mass movement and agrarian revolution, in the united front and in propaganda work.
There is particular relevance and urgency in stressing our propaganda work to actively counter the lies being disseminated by the regime. We must pay attention to the propaganda work of leading Party organs and make sure that the appropriate machinery and resources are available for us to thoroughly, creatively and tirelessly explain our stand and expose the enemy's lies.
Clarify before the broadest possible number of people the correctness of our revolutionary resistance, the relevance to and benefits derived by the people from the armed struggle, agrarian revolution and building the people's democratic government. We must show that it is the revolutionary movement, and not the reactionary, puppet and militarist Macapagal-Arroyo regime that is sincere with respect to the peace talks. Show that under the regime, peace talks were obstructed in accordance with the desire of militarists and US imperialism; and that the "single peace agreement" does not aim to resolve the roots of the civil war but wants only to discard previous agreements and effect the surrender of the revolutionary forces to the reactionary state.
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