The vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Tuesday that the United States should consider restarting a named military operation in the Philippines in order to counter the rise of the Islamic State.
Gen. Paul Selva was responding to a question from Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, a top advocate of intervention there, during an Armed Services Committee hearing on Selva’s reappointment to vice chief.
“In every case where we see the resurgence of terror networks, particularly in the fragile areas of the south Philippines, I think it is worth considering whether or not we reinstate a named operation,” Selva said. “Not only to provide for the resources that are required, but to give the Pacific Command commander and the field commanders in the Philippines the kinds of authorities they need to work with indigenous Philippine forces to actually help them be successful in that battle space.”
Ernst warned that without a new U.S. military operation, the instability in the Philippines could turn into a “prolonged or long-term catastrophe.”
Islamic State-aligned groups rose up in May and have since waged a brutal fight for Marawi City in the southern Philippines with the country’s security forces, who are backed by U.S. military air power.
The violence raised concerns about the Islamic State’s growing influence in hotbeds around the world and whether the U.S. prematurely ended its formal anti-terror operations in the Philippines in 2014.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said last month that ending Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines hobbled the ability to provide some forms of assistance to Manila as President Rodrigo Duterte attempts to clamp down on the violence.
The U.S. began a joint counter-terrorism mission with the long-time ally following 9/11, rotating about 500 special operations troops into the Mindanao region, which has struggled for decades with an insurgency by Muslim minority Filipinos.
