Resistance grows to US-led neoliberalism

GLOBAL resistance to the US-led neoliberal empire has intensified over the last few days.

Although the protests in the Islamic world have been sparked by controversy over an anti-Muslim film, the roots are clearly much deeper.

And the momentum caused by the unprecedented wave of fury at the USA and allies like Israel, the UK and Germany, is unlikely to fade fast.

On September 11, an attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, left the US ambassador dead, while an attack on the American embassy in Cairo saw the Stars and Stripes torn down and an Islamist banner hoisted in its place.

On September 13 protesters broke into the US embassy compound in Sanaa, Yemen, and the next day protesters stormed the US embassy complex in Tunis.  There were seven deaths at protests worldwide, following Muslim Friday Prayers.

Monday's protests included 3,000 protesters in the Philippines burning US and Israeli flags in the southern city of Marawi, and hundreds of protesters facing off with police in Jakarta, Indonesia, throwing stones and petrol bombs. There have been other protests in Lebanon, Kashmir and Pakistan.

Angry demonstrators in the Afghan capital, Kabul, fired guns, torched police cars and shouted anti-US slogans. And 15 Taliban fighters who fought their way on to Helmand's main airbase destroyed six jets worth millions of pounds in an assault that was the start of a bloody weekend for NATO forces – in 48 hours six US and UK troops were killed by Aghan "allies".

And meanwhile the Occupy Wall Street protests are back with a vengeance, with dozens of arrests in New York on Monday, #S17.

 

Rebels attack mining firms

ANTI-CAPITALIST rebels stormed three mining companies in the Philippines on Monday, burning heavy equipment, disarming guards and briefly holding several people.

Forbes.com said this was their biggest attack this year.

The New People's Army guerrillas then ambushed a convoy led by a police general that was responding to the attack in remote Claver township in Surigao del Norte province.

One of the companies that came under attack, Taganito Mining Corp., was forced to temporarily halt operations because of the magnitude of the assault.

Said Minda News: "Around 200 rebels from the NPA’s guerrilla front 16 led by a certain Artem or Doming staged the attack, the military official said.

“'Magulong-magulo. The rebels wearing army uniforms conducted checkpoints leading to Claver town. This created confusion among responding soldiers and policemen,' Osias said.

"He said the rebels manning a checkpoint ambushed a convoy of soldiers responding to the attack today.

"Reports from the police office in Surigao del Norte said the rebels used dump trucks and other heavy equipment to block reinforcements in Sitio Baoy, Barangay San Isidro in Gigaguit town and Barangay Lagdaon in Claver town, all in Surigao del Norte.

"Osias said that aside from torching heavy equipment, the rebels seized thirty-two 9mm pistols from the Taganito Mining Corporation.

"He said three groups of rebels simultaneously attacked the three mining firms located adjacent to each other in Claver, around 9a.m.

"The first group of rebels went to Taganito Mining Corporation in Barangay Taganito killing four guards who offered resistance. They later burned the firm’s guesthouse and seized the 9mm pistols from the guards.

"During the three-hour attack, the rebels also barged into the office of the Platinum Group Mining Corporation in Barangay Cadiano and burned company equipment.

"At around 12:30 pm, another group of rebels proceeded to TH PAL Mining Corporation. Osias said the rebels burned two barges, ten Volvo dump trucks and eight Volvo backhoes."

Philippines rebellion on the rise

RESISTANCE is surging in The Philippines, forcing the state to deploy more troops to try and quell the rebellion.

Reports Philstar.com: "The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said today it was pouring in more forces and equipment to the southern region of Davao where it said the presence of New People's Army (NPA) insurgents is 'more pronounced' or evident.

"Brig. Gen. Jose Mabanta, AFP spokesman, said the deployment will be made 'within the next few days' but declined to say how many troops and equipment will be sent to the Davao region where he said the 'enemy activities' is concentrated."

The paper quoted Mabanta as saying: "About 30 percent (of the rebel strength) is concentrated in that area. We feel that if we will be able to arrest or defeat the enemy in that area, pretty soon, the other areas (outside Davao region) will fall down like dominos.

"We have already sent additional forces coming from Luzon about a month ago. We are still pouring in additional resources, both personnel and equipment...Among the other hot spots, this (Davao region) is where we deem it necessary to focus our effort."

The NPA, armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, has been waging a guerrilla campaign in the countryside for four decades. Military estimates the NPA strength at more than 4,000 guerrilla fighters scattered in more than 60 provinces throughout the country.

Peace talks between the government and the leftists bogged down after the United States included the NPA and its parent body as foreign terrorist organizations in 2002.

Meanwhile, gmanews.tv reports: "Fresh from their United Nations’ peacekeeping stint at the Golan Heights in Israel, at least 170 Philippine Army soldiers are now with the newly-formed 86th Infantry Battalion, which will be deployed in guerrilla-infested villages in the Cordillera Administrative Region.

"Cordillera is a hotbed of insurgents. Only last month, seven Army soldiers were killed in ambush in the Mountain Province, forcing the Armed Forces to focus on dismantling the five guerrilla fronts operating in several villages, said Maj. Gen. Rommel Gomez, 5th Infantry Division commander."

Double attack on army by Philippines rebels

LEFT-WING insurgents in the Philippines have staged two more attacks on government forces.

Reports the Associated Press: "A New People's Army rebel sniper fatally shot one of several army soldiers guarding a government road project on Saturday in a remote village in Presentacion township in Camarines Sur province, about 155 miles (250 kilometres) southeast of Manila, army Lt. Col. Ernesto Cruz said.

"Twelve soldiers were deployed to pursue the attackers but were ambushed by the rebels late Saturday in another village in Presentacion. Seven soldiers, three of them wounded by grenades and rifle fire, managed to return to camp, but five went missing, regional army spokesman Maj. Harold Cabunoc said.

"Villagers have reported seeing the bodies of four of the missing soldiers at the battle scene in a Presentacion hinterland, and troops aboard two Huey helicopters have been sent to look for the army personnel, Cabunoc said.

"The fifth soldier has sent a mobile phone message to his army commander, saying he was hiding in a forest near the scene of the clash. Troops were also searching for him, Cabunoc said.

"An army soldier was killed and seven others were wounded by a land-mine blast in a separate fight Saturday on the outskirts of southern Davao city, regional military spokesman Capt. Emmanuel Garcia said.

"The communist guerrillas apparently planted mines to block the advance of government troops that they had fought twice earlier Saturday, Garcia said."

Philippines rebels ambush troops

LEFT WING revolutionaries in the southern Philippines have ambushed a group of election officials , including soldiers guarding ballot papers, and killed at least 6 of them.

Reports the Mindanao Examiner: "Officials said New People’s Army rebels opened fire on the convoy as it was heading to Maragusan town in Compostela Valley province where the votes in Monday’s general elections would be counted.

"Among the dead was a member of the Board of Election Inspectors and a civilian poll watcher and two government militias and soldiers.

"At least 17 people, including three civilians who were poll watchers, and 9 soldiers were also wounded in the attack, said Army Captain Emmanuel Garcia, a spokesman for the 10th Infantry Division.

"He called on the Commission of Human Rights and other human rights organizations to investigate the attack which occurred at around 8.30 a.m. on a village near Maragusan town.

"Garcia said rebels also attacked Friday and wounded two government troops guarding polling machines in the village of Taguibo in Davao Oriental’s Mati town. Security forces were guarding the machines when rebels opened fire at them.

"Insurgents also bombed Thursday troops escorting a convoy delivering similar machines called precinct count optical scanner in Palanas town in Masbate province in the Bicol region, although no was injured or killed in the roadside attack.

"The New People’s Army said the attack targeted troops as punishment for their human rights abuses. 'The NPA, as a matter of policy and as track record shows, fully respects the people’s will in the guerilla base areas especially during this most chaotic election period,' said Simon Santiago, of the New People’s Army."

Philippines resistance ambushes police unit

RESISTANCE fighters in the Philippines have carried out a spectacular ambush of state forces.

Inquirer.net reported: "Four members of an elite police unit died and seven others were injured when they were ambushed by suspected Communist rebels in Antipolo City, Rizal province early Tuesday morning, the provincial police chief said.

"Senior Superintendent Jonathan Miano said that a nine-member team of the elite Special Action Force unit of the Philippine National Police together with two civilians and 34 members of the Special Action Company were ambushed at Sitio (sub-village) Caysacat, Barangay (village) San Jose 6 a.m. Tuesday.

"Initial investigation revealed that the government forces were on board a SAF Defender vehicle, heading towards Bicutan in Taguig City when they were waylaid by the suspects.

"Government troops were reportedly attacked using land mines and grenades, Miano said.

Added Earth Times: "Communist rebels have been fighting the government since the late 1960s, making the movement one of the longest-running leftist insurgencies in Asia."

Philippines 'could become another Afghanistan for USA'

PHILIPPINE revolutionaries are warning that their country could become another Afghanistan for the USA.

As US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton made a two-day visit, the National Democratic Front-Mindanao (NDF-Mindanao) reiterated the demand of the Filipino people for the US government to immediately pull-out the US Pacific Command's 600-strong Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines (JSOTFP) from Mindanao and elsewhere in the Philippines.

Should the US refuse and instead continue heightening its military intervention and escalate its participation in counter-guerrilla operations, Mindanao and the entire Philippines could become another Afghanistan, Iraq or Vietnam where its forces will be caught in a spiral of armed mass resistance, warned the rebels.

Said Jorge "Ka Oris" Madlos, spokesman for the NDF-Mindanao, in a statement posted on the Fightbacknews website: "Despite persistent denials of Philippine and US officials, there is clear proof that US soldiers have been participating in counter-guerrilla operations jointly with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in Mindanao and other parts of the Philippines.

"However, US military officials have been more forthright in bragging about the participation of American soldiers in operations against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Abu Sayaff.

"This year, US military elements were documented to have had an active role along with AFP regular troops in four separate operations in the town of Quezon, and the cities of Malaybalay and Valencia in Bukidnon province. American soldiers penetrated local villages in search of local guerrilla units of the New People's Army (NPA). Since 2002, American troops have also been sighted in other parts of Mindanao, as well as in Samar, Panay, Bicol, Southern Tagalog and Central Luzon.

"The NDF-Mindanao would like to warn Ms. Clinton that in participating in local counter-guerilla operations, US forces are bound to suffer a bigger number of casualties. Last September, at least two American soldiers were killed when ambushed in Indanan, Sulu by local armed groups. Earlier this year, an American soldier was wounded in Bicol when the AFP unit he was embedded in was ambushed by NPA Red fighters.

"Highlighting Ms. Clinton’s visit, the NPA has launched series of tactical offensives and sanctions across Mindanao as one way of underscoring the demand of the Filipino people and their revolutionary forces for the Obama government to immediately withdraw all its forces from the country and to end its interventionist policy.

"The NDF-Mindanao denounces the publicity gimmick of Ms. Clinton in her plan to have her picture taken with the victims of recent supertyphoons that left thousands homeless and more impoverished then before. This is hypocrisy of the highest sort!

"It is a historical fact that US logging and mining companies and big agribusiness corporations have been the biggest plunderers of Philippine natural resources and pollutants of the environment. The destruction that they have caused and continue to cause is the single-biggest cause of landslides, flooding and ecological imbalance. They are among the biggest landgrabbers that have displaced millions of peasants and indigenous peoples in Mindanao and the entire country.

"The US government is overlooking the responsibility of US monopoly corporations over the destruction of the Philippine environment. If Ms. Clinton and the Obama government were any sincere in the Filipino people's plight over the continued environmental degradation, they would compel logging and mining concessions and big agribusiness corporations, especially those which are directly-owned or are in partnership with US-based companies, to immediately stop their operations.

"Instead, the US brazenly took advantage of the calamities by deploying American troops for so-called humanitarian operations which only serve to mask US imperialism's military interventionism."