Only a few decades ago and even at present child soldiers were much utilized in the armed conflicts of Africa, especially in Somalia. Kids handling Kalashnikov and RPG's were used my leftist groups as the meat of their private army. A few days ago, when Ces Drilon was released from captivity, a shocking recurrence of history was revealed but this time on Philippine Soil-Child Soldiers.
In line of political thinking the radical leftists have made a terrifying move. This change of tactic could mold the kind of warfare that AFP would be facing in the south for the upcoming years.The question is, "Is Malacañang ready for it?". Are the Filipino people ready for the horror that is coming?
The NPA, MILF, MNLF and ABU-SAYAF in thier menacing reign of the south for the past few decades have only used Adults or at most teenagers as infantry in their questionable cause. Never before have their any children used. Suicide bombers in those days were already radical and dreaded and now we face children. Even if they acted in an inappropriate manner, they still considered their families as top priority.
WHY USE CHILDREN ?
Children are the most energetic, agile and impressionable units in an army. They fight because they are fed and they are sheltered. A few words of fatherly care and false propaganda could already captivate their loyalty plus they don't fight for a high price. Since their minds are fresh, they seek to learn and if you feed the information you want at the right method they would absorb it like a sponge.
During the Somalian Civil war, when UN peace keeping forces were operating, the UN soldiers had a hard time pinpointing the enemy for there was no uniform to distinguish them and no specific age that determine possible targets. The age bracket of their infantry ranges from 7-30 years old. Their Commanders were probably 30-50 years old. This age hierarchy depicts a father-son relation, wherein the commanders are their fathers.It was not only identifying the targets that hindered the UN commissioned soldiers in the combat operations but it was also their hesitation to shoot a 7 year old kid which more or less has the same age with their sons and daughters. These children at their age could have been playing baseball or going to school but instead, they're in front of them carrying an AK and firing RPG's at their comrades still dropping from the helicopter.
Although our country has not yet reach that kind of situation, the fact that 7-12 year old's were holding bolos and determined to chop the head of Ces if demands were not met indicates that an alarming possibility of the kind of targets that the AFP will be facing. It is unbelievable for 7 year old's without proper education to conceive such a plan-kidnap for ransom. I myself exposed to violent media during my early years could not even imagine how to carry out the operation.Where did they get the intelligence? Who supplied them?
NEW BREED OF COMBATANTS
The former USSR and present RUSSIA has been training children in the KGB (now SPETZNAZ). They are trained from basic field stripping to executing covert operations. This might not be the case in our country but the presence of these underage insurgents could possibly trigger that situation. With a lot of street children roaming in our streets hungry the leftists have a wide supermarket to supply infantry. One day we pro ably will wake-up seeing in the news that child soldiers have captured malacañang and they are demanding legislative body to change our democratic government into a socialist one. And even worse is a 7 year old kid pointing a gun at you when you wake up and you see you wife and daughter being molested by teens. Who knows?
They might be mere speculations right but it has already happened in Africa.
WHY IS THIS A POLITICAL MATTER?
According to Politics and Governance: Theory and Practice in the Philippine context, "While wars may be caused by politics and may result in politics, war itself is not politics. War is the death and failure of Politics." More or less this
statement might be true but i believe that this statement is only applicable in conventional warfare. In modern or contemporary warfare, war is part of politics. The scope and nature of warfare at present already links with politics.
War has changed. Covert operations, a campaign tactic rampantly use in modern warfare, for instance is an exercise of politics. When Ninoy was shot by an unknown gunman, was not that a covert operation which is rather political? Although Political Scientists may argue that covert operations are not public, which is a major characteristic of politics, the resulting effects of the silent operation is made public for its effects affect the public-in various forms, of course.
In line with our topic about child soldiers, the act of the leftist to Finlay use children in combat is a political maneuver as well as a tactical maneuver in warfare. In politics this could mean that the government would create certain policies to respond to this political move affecting the tactical procedures of the AFP in engaging children in combat. Politics and modern warfare in a sense play in similar field.
FORESIGHT
What is to come after this event would definitely change not only the nature of warfare in the our country but as well as the nature of politics between the government and the leftists. Let us keep watch, as political scientist in the
unfolding events for maybe we could possibly create an idea that could cure the newly formulated viral idea that is plaguing the minds of the children the south. Pray that this ideological epidemic would not move north into comforts of your homes.
*Forgive the Grammatical errors if there are any.
Posted By:
VINTOY [Vince Suelto]
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4 comments:
I would to disagree on one aspect of your entry, though i must say i commend the comparative appraoch you used, in that you try to connect the suprising yet distrubing profile of Cess Drilons kidnappers w/ insurgency and leftist movement. I dont think this incident is anyway connect to that. Those kidnappers, children as they may, sons of former Abu Sayaff, MILF insurgents, are in no way to be treated same as their fathers. Becuase when we talk of insurgency and leftism we involve political ideologies, agendas, son on and so forth. What these children did were void of ideology, void of any political agenda. They were simply being capitalistic in a very crude, disturbing manner. In other words they were they were criminals, bandits in the sense, not insurgents or leftist.
ok I agree that the use of a the term leftist is rather inappropriate. I really need to work on being careful in using terms.:)However, we must not also dismiss the possibility of ideologies of the "leftist"(I'm refering now to the real sharks behind the insurgencies that pump the war economy in our country) being used to unconciously create battalions of "child soldiers".You don't think that the kids are the only ones behind this, don't you? I suspect they are mere pawns and the veterans who survived or avioded being captured during the Balikatan Exercises are also behind this. Right now the ABU-SAYAF is the first-in terms of contemporary warfare in the Philippines-to engage in this move. Who knows? Some other groups which uphold respectable ideologies might engage in this tactic next.
As observers of political issues in our country, I always believed it was most important we create room for possibilities.
Philippine politics is closely, but poorly modeled after that of American Politics, where the State will always be "fighting the good fight" against religious extremists, and they will always be playing the role of the ultimate protagonist.
For the protagonist to remain a protagonist, however, he will always need the antagonist. In the Philippines' case, I would just like to point out the possibility: What if the Abu Sayaaf, the MILF, and all these other leftists are a part of the government? That they provide the people a reason to deem the government important? There already have been speculations of the current "War on Terror" is nothing but big business (This is how America has always done business, but that's another story)
In the modern world, only the soldier truly loses the war.
I really agree with you leiron. I know someone who was also a victim of the "War Economy"-presumed to be governemnt funded-in Mindinao during the Marcos regime. They (2 platoons of army rangers) were dispatched to a small village in Surigao. They were told that it was safe zone since rumors were flodding about the NPA. On their way there they were suddenly attacked by an overwhelming number of armed men. About 3/4 survived the attack while returning on foot to the main municipality. They ran out of ammunition and resorted to scavenging enemy ammo. Only to find out that it was marked with the AFP insignia. 2 Days afterthe local radio reported that a group of Army rangers were attacked by the NPA. To think that was an issue back in the 70's; it still is present now.
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