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Bush promises more troops philippines { May 19 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/19/international/asia/19CND-PREX.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/19/international/asia/19CND-PREX.html
May 19, 2003
Bush Promises More U.S. Troops to Philippines Leader
By DAVID STOUT
WASHINGTON, May 19 — With terrorism high on the agenda for both of their countries, President Bush gave a warm welcome today to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the Philippines and pledged more American support to help her country in its internal struggles.
"The Philippines and the United States are strong allies in the war on terror," Mr. Bush said. He called President Arroyo "a friend of America and a friend of freedom."
The visit of President Arroyo comes at a somber juncture, following a spate of deadly attacks in Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Israel and the Philippines.
Al Qaeda terrorists are suspected in the attacks in Saudi Arabia and Morocco, while Hamas militants are suspected in at least some of the suicide bombings in Israel that have set back peace talks between Israel and Palestinians and prompted Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to postpone a trip to see President Bush. In the Philippines, officials have said that Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim group that Washington has linked to Al Qaeda, took responsibility for a bombing on May 10 that killed at least 10 people.
Mr. Bush said more American forces would soon be sent to the Philippines to reinforce those already there to help that country's government fight terrorists, some of whom have Communist links as well as links to terror groups.
"The United States is committed to helping when asked," Mr. Bush said. "President Arroyo and I reviewed last year's highly successful deployment of U.S. troops to the southern Philippines, and we agreed to a similar deployment in the near term, in which U.S. forces would support the Philippine-led anti-terror operations."
The United States and the Philippines have a joint history of more than a century. The United States won possession of the Islands in the Spanish-American War of 1898. They were later a commonwealth, and became an independent country in 1946.
Most recently, the Philippines have strongly supported the United States' military operation in Iraq. "I appreciate her strong support for the disarmament and liberation of that country," Mr. Bush said. "I'm also grateful that the Philippine government plans to commit military police and medical personnel to assist in the reconstruction of Iraq."
President Arroyo will be honored tonight at a White House state dinner. She is also eager to acquire contracts for Philippine businesses in the rebuilding of Iraq and would like to see more American investment in the Islands.
She is also eager to have more trade with the United States, something both leaders mentioned and to which they attached importance in the context of fighting terrorism.
"This trip is not just about terrorism," President Arroyo said. "It's about fighting poverty. Poverty and terrorism are twin evils that we must fight."
"In the Philippines," she said, "terrorism thrives and gets its recruits, not coincidentally, in the provinces that are the poorest."
Mr. Bush, who plans to visit the Philippines in the fall, asserted that progress is being made in fighting terrorism, in the Middle East and elsewhere, despite the recent bloodshed. And while he said that "poor people aren't necessarily killers," he agreed with his Philippines counterpart that international trade was one way to lift people out of poverty.
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