American Forces in the Philippines

Here in the Philippines there are a number of U.S. military. The Philippines has a "Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA)" with the U.S. From my limited knowledge, one of the main reasons for these forces to be here is to try to contain the spread of influence of the extremist group Abu Sayyaf. This group is based on the islands off of Western Mindanao, in Jolo and Basilan. Wikipedia says they are in Zamboanga as well but I was just there and all the residents swore up and down Abu Sayyaf isn't there (they were also trying to make a good impression though and still wouldn't let us go to places, where in the past, kidnappings of foreigners has occurred).

My initial reaction to learning about the VFA was dislike - I am in peace studies after all! Seriously, though (I don't want to give the impression that all peace studies kids are completely anti-war and hippies like me!), I learned about the VFA while reading a document published by my organization condemning it. I also learned around that time of an incident of a woman being raped by American forces here. I was learning all the negative issues revolving around the VFA.

I hadn't actually seen any U.S. military here until last week when out at a nightclub. I ended up chatting with a U.S. born Filipino in the army. His job in the army is working in the civilian affairs unit. He explained that his mission is purely humanitarian. He told me how he goes into villages and listens and takes notes of what the people there want or are in need of. Then his team goes into action and builds schools or water projects, etc. It was my interpretation that part of the objective of these missions was to engage with Filipinos and improve their lives in the hope of avoiding the infiltration of the influence of Abu Sayyaf. He was a little wary of being judged for his work -- he stated that a few bad apples in the military make everyone look really, really bad. I was really impressed by how genuinely passionate he seemed about helping Filipinos and bringing peace into their lives. We then launched into a conversation about how trained peacebuilders and trained military need to work together, to him we all have the same objective.

And its true, we do need to work together. As far as I can tell, there is a lot of unspoken (and not so unspoken) animosity between some professional peacebuilders and the military. We are often viewed as having antithetical stances. And yes, we do sometimes have antithetical ideas about how we should get to peace and what that peace is supposed to look like. I, myself, am quite a peacenik and like to protest against certain U.S. foreign policies, military structures and the overall culture of militarism in American society. But I really do try to think well of individuals in the military. I have been blessed with one particular amazing friend in my life who is currently serving in Afghanistan and is doing so because she genuinely wants to help and bring peace. She, and the man I met here in the Philippines, continually remind me that as much as I just want to "rage against the machine" sometimes, the world isn't that black and white. There are people in the military who choose their job because they believe this is where they can bring peace to people around the world. Peacebuilders like me could do much better if we learn about the military, its ins and outs, its language, and engage it respectfully. Continual animosity of professional peacebuilders towards the military is neither peaceful nor productive. Through respectful engagement professional peacebuilders and military personnel can challenge each other's ideas, positively influence one another, and refine our strategies to be the best and most peace-loving practitioners we can be.