VZCZCXRO4140
OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHML #0255/01 0220947
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 220947Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY MANILA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4855
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS IMMEDIATE
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA IMMEDIATE 9523
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO IMMEDIATE 3040
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RHHMUNA/CDRUSPACOM HONOLULU HI IMMEDIATE
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RHHMUNS/COMSOCPAC HONOLULU HI IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MANILA 000255 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP, PM, S/CT, AND EAP/MTS 
USPACOM ALSO FOR FPA HUSO AND J5 
SECDEF/OSD/ISA/AP (TOOLAN/BAILEY) 
JOINT STAFF/J5 (WILKES/ROBINSON/CLEMMONS) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER MARR MASS MOPS MCAP PREL EAID RP
SUBJECT: THE USG IS HELPING DEFEAT THE TERRORISTS ON JOLO 
 
REF: A. MANILA 241 
     ¶B. MANILA 196 
     ¶C. 06 MANILA 786 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY.  The deaths of Abu Sayyaf Group leaders 
Khadaffy Janjalani and Jainal Antel Sali AKA Abu Solaiman at 
the hands of the Philippine Armed Forces represent a 
significant victory for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and 
the people of the Philippines.  This achievement is also a 
testimony to the effectiveness of our comprehensive 
Mission-wide effort to improve the capacities of the 
Philippine military and, through civil military operations, 
USAID assistance, and public diplomacy, to shrink the Abu 
Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah terrorists' margin of maneuver 
into an ever-diminishing physical and psychological space. 
Leaders of the Philippine government and armed forces have 
publicly and effusively praised U.S. support and assistance 
as crucial in these efforts.  Our combined efforts will need 
to continue until all key terrorists here are captured or 
killed.  Final eradication of terrorists from the Philippines 
will required continued intensive engagement and support from 
a wide range of USG agencies.  END SUMMARY. 
 
CIVIL-MILITARY OPERATIONS CAMPAIGN 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) In November 2005, we and the Philippines faced a 
significant challenge on Jolo, which had been a long-time Abu 
Sayyaf recruiting ground and was considered its most 
impregnable redoubt.  Janjalani, Abu Solaiman, and the 2002 
Bali bombers Dulmatin and Umar Patek from the Jemaah 
Islamiyah had fled to the island in the belief that they 
could operate from there with near-impunity.  In a carefully 
coordinated effort, Joint Special Operations Task 
Force-Philippines and USAID worked together to build upon 
existing USAID projects in a coordinated civil-military 
operations campaign aimed at driving a wedge between the 
terrorists and the population on whom they depended for 
support.   Beginning with the February 2006 Balikatan 
Exercise and bolstered by the May-June 2006 deployment of the 
USNS MERCY, these activities succeeded in isolating the 
terrorists, who found -- to their surprise -- the population 
of Jolo was not sympathetic to their cause.  A USAID-funded 
$1 million road now links the former Abu Sayyaf stronghold of 
Indanan to Jolo City.  A region that once took Philippine 
soldiers days of hard fighting to reach is now only a 
20-minute drive from Jolo's capital. 
 
BACKING UP THE TROOPS ON THE GROUND 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Philippine troops have demonstrated impressive 
tenacity and aggressiveness during "Operation Ultimatum," the 
ongoing effort since August 1, 2006 to eliminate the Abu 
Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah leadership on Jolo.  U.S. 
assistance has helped build the Philippine military into an 
increasingly formidable force.  Joint U.S. Military 
Assistance Group efforts in support of defense reform and the 
maintenance and mobility program have provided key training 
and equipment.  Backing up the Filipino soldier on the ground 
are OV-10 aircraft, MD-520 gunships, and UH-1H helicopters 
with improved readiness rates.  U.S.-trained pilots equipped 
with night vision goggles have evacuated wounded from jungle 
battlefields, while Light Reaction Company snipers firing 
from helicopters have used U.S.-taught skills and SR-25 
rifles to decimate fleeing groups of Abu Sayyaf terrorists. 
The U.S. Naval Special Warfare teams and vessels of Joint 
Task Force 515 have provided the intelligence, surveillance, 
and reconnaissance support that has enabled the Philippine 
Navy to keep intact the maritime cordon around Jolo and to 
conduct over 5100 maritime interdictions.  The engagement of 
Joint Special Operations Task Force personnel on the ground 
with their Philippine counterparts has provided critical 
intelligence and planning assistance, and Federal Bureau of 
Investigation agents have helped with sensitive site 
exploitation, evidence handling, and DNA analysis.  Armed 
Forces Chief of Staff General Esperon has been unstinting in 
his public praise, saying that Philippine troops were getting 
"very critical, very substantial" intelligence support from 
 
MANILA 00000255  002 OF 002 
 
 
the United States.  President Arroyo and other senior leaders 
have publicly praised U.S. cooperation and underscored the 
importance of our "strategic alliance against terrorism and 
poverty." 
 
ACTIVE PUBLIC DIPLOMACY 
----------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Public diplomacy has played an important role in 
changing perceptions.  Through the International Visitor 
Program we have brought young and dynamic Jolo leaders to the 
United States to learn from U.S. counterparts how to improve 
their island's governance and development, as well as learn 
more about the United States and its people.  Jolo Provincial 
Administrator Don Loong proudly notes on his business card 
that he was a 2006 Leadership Fellow.  The Strategic 
Speaker's Initiative brought a U.S. imam to Jolo, where he 
engaged the local Muslim community and demonstrated that 
Islam can co-exist and thrive in a modern, secular society. 
The Ambassador and Deputy Chief of Mission have both made a 
dozen trips to Jolo to open USAID infrastructure projects and 
internet classrooms and to participate in medical and 
engineering civic action programs.  The Ambassador joined 
Governor Ben Loong in April 2006 in a public commemoration of 
the victims of the March 2006 Jolo City bombing perpetrated 
by the Abu Sayyaf Group. 
 
A TEAM EFFORT 
------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The war on terrorism in the southern Philippines is 
not yet over.  Dulmatin and Umar Patek remain at large, and 
other Jemaah Islamiyah and Abu Sayyaf Group operatives are 
still actively plotting to attack U.S. and Philippine 
targets.  We cannot let down our guard.  Nonetheless, we can 
take satisfaction in Philippine successes and in the 
knowledge that many elements of our Mission have played a 
role in this effort.  Final eradication of terrorists from 
the Philippines will required continued intensive engagement 
and support from a wide range of USG agencies. 
 
Visit Embassy Manila's Classified website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eap/manila/index. cfm 
KENNEY