A US military commander has told the Philippines that the planned armed campaign against those behind deadly terrorist attacks in the United States could last two years, a senior aide to President Gloria Arroyo said Thursday.
Arroyo's National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said he met with Admiral Thomas Fargo, the commander of the US Pacific fleet, last Tuesday to discuss the Philippines' participation in a global coalition against terrorism.
Fargo warned that "a long drawn campaign should be expected lasting more than one year, possibly two years, considering that the military situation is very different from any campaign participated in by US forces in modern times," Golez said in a statement.
The admiral also stressed that "there will be more diplomatic and financial offensives in the coming days," Golez added.
On Wednesday, Arroyo offered combat troops to the international campaign against terrorism as well as Philippine ports and facilities in the campaign against wanted militant Osama bin Laden.
Bin Laden, believed to be hiding in Afghanistan, is Washington's main suspect in the suicide hijackings that flattened the World Trade Center and damaged the Pentagon.
Golez said Fargo, his classmate at the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, also told him that Washington "greatly appreciates the immediate expression of support by the Philippines" to his country following the September 11 attacks.
Golez said other senior US military officers briefed him on "US military assets, especially aircraft, expected to enter the Philippine air space in the coming days, as well as those expected to use the former [US] military bases in Subic and Clark and other facilities."
The briefing was held at Subic.
The Pacific fleet is based in Hawaii and includes vessels and personnel deployed in bases in Japan and South Korea. A number of US military aircraft have made several refueling stops at Mactan air base in the central Philippines over the past week.
Golez said he also discussed with Fargo the possible transfer of excess US military equipment to the Philippine military to help the latter fight the Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim guerrilla group founded with the help of bin Laden -- MANILA (AFP)
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