On guard and fighting fit

This year's war games which concluded on Thursday included exercises in how to deal with acts of terrorism.

RICHARD S. EHRLICH
BANGKOK, Thailand

America and four Asian military allies have been training to defend commercial oil platforms and use "deadly force in an urban setting" against terrorists, according to U.S. Army Major General Stephen D. Tom.

"One area that is of concern in the region, of course, is the global war on terrorism," Maj. Gen. Tom, deputy commanding general of the U.S. Army Pacific, said in a recorded interview.

"It is an asymmetric threat. We don't know how and when it will appear. But as we train together with our friends and allies, we will be better able to respond to any offensive operation that terrorists may impose in the region," he said.

Maj. Gen. Tom made the remarks on May 27, at the end of Cobra Gold, one of America's biggest military exercises involving the U.S. Pacific Command.

Cobra Gold included about 13,500 U.S. service members along with 5,400 Thai forces, plus small contingents from Singapore, the Philippines and Mongolia.

Thailand, the Philippines and Mongolia currently have forces in Iraq supporting the U.S.-led occupation.

Cobra Gold included Americans training with Thai naval forces to defeat mock terrorists who had seized a "generic" commercial oil platform, such as Unocal's extensive installation in the Gulf of Thailand.

"That was a field training operation with the American navy special operations force, working with the Thai navy special operations force, to secure an oil platform that was taken over by terrorists," Maj. Gen. Tom said.

"It was designed to train tactics, procedures and policies of these naval special operations forces in this particular scenario, to reclaim a platform in the water, to take out and disarm and retake the tower for the benefit of the commercial establishment that owned it."

London-based Amnesty International, in a report on May 26x, condemned the U.S.-led "war on terror" for committing human rights abuses throughout the world, including the torture and killing of civilians, but Maj. Gen. Tom said training with military allies could lessen such excesses.

"The Americans have some experience with fighting terrorists but there are a lot of others, other countries, that have equal or more than the U.S.

"In particular, it's the ability to conduct military operations and use deadly force in an urban setting which is very difficult to do because it is difficult to know who the bad guys are, or the good guys at times, and there are difficulties in terms of what we call 'collateral damage', or excessive damage, not meant to be, but unfortunately happens," he said.

"Various allies can give us additional information, and we can give information, to try to reduce that type of -- minimize that type of -- external or extraordinary damage," said Maj. Gen. Tom who is deputy commanding general for mobilization and reserve affairs.

Cobra Gold also included training in "intelligence gathering", information technology and humanitarian relief, he said.

Thailand is currently grappling with a daily military threat in the south, where minority Muslim insurgents are fighting the Buddhist majority government.

In Thailand's worst bloodshed in decades, Thai security forces backed by armored personnel carriers and helicopters killed 38 suspected Islamic militants inside a southern mosque, and about 70 other Muslim fighters in scattered clashes on April 28. Five Thai security forces also died, bringing the total death toll to 112.

Assassinations and arson have continued almost daily in the south by extremists who want a homeland uniting Muslims in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and the Philippines.

Asked about Thailand's April 28 military assault, Maj. Gen. Tom replied: "That is an internal matter for the Thai government and the Thai officials to consider and comment on and, in addition, I don't know enough about the details about that operation to comment."

Washington, however, perceives Thailand's southern rebellion as a major security threat.

"Whether the security threat is domestic, as in the case in southern Thailand, or transnational terrorism, as in the case of the September 11 attacks in the U.S. and the 2002 Bali attack in Indonesia, like-minded countries in the international community must come together and protect ourselves, our societies, and our citizens from the menace of militants and terrorists who seek to destroy the fabric of our free societies," U.S. Ambassador to Thailand, Darryl N. Johnson, said in a speech on May 13 at the start of Cobra Gold.

"Multilateral exercises such as Cobra Gold are essential to help us train and work together to defeat those terrorists and eliminate their networks in Southeast Asia and around the world," Ambassador Johnson said.

American forces involved in Cobra Gold included elements of the U.S. Army Pacific, Pacific Fleet, Marine Corps Forces Pacific, and Pacific Air Forces, plus Special Operations Command Pacific, Air Combat Command, Air Mobility Command, Military Sealift Command and reserves from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.

* Richard S. Ehrlich is a former UPI correspondent who has reported from Asia for the past 25 years.