Rebels of Mindanao (23 page)

Thornton was sure Lateef and Mahir's patrol was asleep, or too far away to detect their presence.

All were except one. He had awakened with a mild stomachache and walked away from the camp to dig a hole and deposit the results of his indigestion. As he was returning, he noticed Thornton, an obvious white guy in the dark jungle, and his smaller companion. The accidental sentry followed the suspicious characters and saw them reach the main road at a culvert bridge four kilometers south of Koronadal City.

The Muslim returned to the Abu Sayaf camp and woke Lateef to report the sighting of a white soldier just outside their camp, moving toward a group of vehicles, maybe a contingent of the Philippine Army. Lateef immediately guessed the entire situation and was sure the news was a gift from the prophet. By early morning he and Mahir had planned their ambush.

Thomas Thornton and Hank Starke shook hands silently, directly meeting the other's gaze, not exactly smiling but each relieved to find the other in good shape. Elaiza smiled at Starke and punched him in the belly; he gave her a bear hug. STAGCOM was complete again.

They were only seven men and Elaiza Otakan, but well armed and dedicated, a potentially lethal team, unquestionably highly motivated.

Thornton and Elaiza had located the Abu Sayaf patrol. Killing the Turk Hakki would derail the insurrection and earn them the money, an ideal situation for Thornton. But then what? If Thornton was ever going to regain Hargens' trust, let alone Charlie Downs,' he needed to do it right.

If STAGCOM could catch Kumander Ali with the money before he had a chance to distribute it, the Philippine government would gain a major victory against the revolution. It sounded simple, but it wasn't.

Colonel Liu had to be on the scene and in charge when it happened,
but not come away with the cash either. That was what complicated Thornton's job.

Thornton asked Starke to get their men organized and ready to move out. The old top sergeant left Thornton in the command post and checked out the Otazas on the M-16s he had issued them. He had taken the five brothers into the brush just off the road to try out their new rifles by shooting birds for target practice. Pedro, and especially Reymundo, were great shots, well practiced with the .22 rifles they owned back in their villages in Agusan, and they also applied the expertise learned from their practice with hand-made slingshots, which seemed to sharpen their eyesight. The Otaza brothers quickly picked up on the M16 in single shot mode, not yet rapid fire, and the birds made a savory addition to the food for the dogs that seemed to appear out of the nearby village and preferred to hang around the command post rather than raiding the local garbage dump.

Thornton erected two hammocks within a small grove of hardwood trees for himself and Elaiza. He knew she was dead tired. In the meantime, the rest of the men studied Thornton's crumpled map and field notes and deliberated—had Mahir hooked up with Ali? Was this an ideal time to attack?

S
ixty miles to the north, a washed-out Vietnam-era Huey helicopter gifted to the Philippine Army by the Americans years ago and in its last years of operational capability, penetrated the air space of South Cotobato province and headed inland over the coast toward the landing zone designated LZ Koronadal. When he got a message about the approaching helicopter, Sergeant Starke and the Otaza brothers got busy clearing an open area to make a landing zone near where their Pajero was parked.

John Robert Mundy was on board the Huey and was not happy that his flight had been ordered to go by way of Davao City to pick up Major Hayes. Hayes, in turn, was not happy to have a civilian along for the ride in a possible combat situation. They engaged in unfriendly discussion on the flight.

“Mundy, I've asked the pilot to go into Koronadal from the south so the Abus won't get a shot at us, they may have a ground-to-air missile.”

“Major, please refer to me as John Robert Mundy, or Mr. Mundy. That's what I'm called in the embassy,” the D.C. official huffed back.

“Right, Mundy,” Hayes responded, insolently ignoring the name preference, “Welcome to the field.”

Mundy scowled. “Where was that trooper killed?” was all he asked, changing the subject.

“In Zambo, but we're not going there,” Hayes told him, referring to the recent death of a U.S. Special Forces lieutenant farther south. “We have a handle on that situation. We can avenge his death right here.”

Mundy represented the official U.S. position as the Department of State saw it. He had Charlie Downs' reluctant approval and gloated that he spoke for the Department of State in the field, obliging Hayes to hear his insider's opinion. “The Philippine government has taken the position that they won't tolerate terrorists in Mindanao, but it's just talk. The national police and the army together have no real power in the villages or in the jungles, no ability to control events on the ground. They just kind of drive around on the main roads and worry about traffic control. We have to change their attitude.”

“We can't win the war for them, a few dozen of us in a nation of seventy-five million,” Hayes said. “I know that.”

Hayes had to tolerate Mundy. They were on the same side after all, and both knew their mentors, Hargens in Manila and Downs back in D.C., had their hands full deflecting the slap-happy military types whose only solution was “Send in the B-52s and bomb them back to the Stone Age.”

“The civilian government has to formulate a winning strategy. Without a real plan, the Philippine military can never gain the approval and support of their nation,” Mundy continued with his personal insights into geopolitical rationale. “Who knows what bunch of old retired soldiers will get together over a few beers in the officers' club at Fort Bonifacio, baptize themselves a junta, and form a new government.” He paused. “DOS wants to know what's going on, and that's why I'm here.”

“I wondered why,” Hayes mumbled mostly to himself, and said, “You guys at State got the Philippines to wave their flag in Iraq some years ago, only to pull out their troop commitment of fifty-one men because one truck driver got captured. It would have been better for everyone if they had never sent any troops to that war in the first place. When the
MNLF sees how the Philippine leaders buckle, they'll use the terror tool.” Hayes was not forgiving; he had lost good men in combat.

“We know about the tools of terror.” John Robert Mundy was calmer now; after all, Hayes was a fellow countryman. “If Al Qaeda gets away with terrorizing Mindanao sufficiently to cause regime change with a few bombings, you can expect to see them using bio weapons and dirty bombs back home, or in Indonesia, Japan, Europe, you name the place, the next target.”

“The politicians in Manila are getting desperate.” Hayes had heard some loose talk around the embassy. “I hear we're ready to sign an agreement to cooperate with the Indonesian military; that would sure help us seal off access into southern Mindanao.”

“Can't talk about it.” Mundy was proud of what he knew that Hayes did not.

“I don't think you see the big picture about their Iraq pull-out,” Mundy said. “The Philippine president was running for election at the time. If he had not given in to the demands of the Muslim kidnappers and they had beheaded that driver, he would never have been re-elected. The voters would have elected some comedian who couldn't find Iraq on a map, let alone govern the Philippines and administer a foreign policy.”

Hayes was concerned about the way the war in Iraq was going and harbored an old resentment. “I still don't like that they sent a paltry few troops to ‘help Iraq.' It took two of our guys to protect each one of theirs—two real soldiers we had to take out of combat. The Philippine contingent had no tactical capability. I don't think they were ever sure which way to point their rifles.”

“That's simplistic, and wrong,” continued Mundy. “They were truck drivers, like our own truck drivers in California, or Korea or Germany. They weren't there in a combat role. If we recognize we're in a global war, then we have to cooperate with the ASEAN pact members as allies.”

Hayes radioed ahead to Colonel Liu to coordinate their rendezvous, and the Huey took up a flight path to approach the landing zone. The pilot descended on a sharp angle downward to the minimal landing area carved out by the Otaza brothers, the tops of the surrounding palm
trees slapping against the helicopter's skids as it approached and set down. Mundy ducked down and trotted under the wash of the helicopter blades as he held onto his steel helmet. Hayes stepped off the aircraft and walked upright to salute Colonel Liu, who had just pulled up in his jeep.

Liu had arrived at the STAGCOM forward position only a few minutes before Hayes radioed and quickly selected the TFD command post on a low hilltop a hundred yards away. It was shortly before noon. The two infantry companies of Task Force Davao were with him and stretched out along the highway in their trucks waiting for him to issue orders.

Both Hayes and Mundy respected Liu, but for different reasons. Hayes liked that Liu was a professional soldier; Mundy liked him because he understood geopolitics and spoke in those terms. Liu needed to cope with internal politics in his own country, while taking advantage of any assistance that the U.S. could give to his cause, including this small STAGCOM irregular force. The Americans could be a useful and flexible tool in situations he wanted to keep off the record, as well as providing intelligence directly from the U.S. Embassy in Manila. STAGCOM was just what he needed when he was told by his superiors not to report details. He would tell the whole story only to National Security Advisor Galan, who did want to hear details, like what bodies were left on the field, preferably enemy bodies, and how they happened to become bodies instead of prisoners. Galan would not want to hear bad news.

Hayes briefed Colonel Liu, both of them ignoring Mundy as they walked away from the LZ and toward the STAGCOM Pajero. “Using our new technology and with Thornton following them on the ground, we have that Abu Sayaf patrol targeted, including the Turk with the money cache. They're located exactly 467 meters to the north northeast of this command post.”

Thornton walked up to greet his friend. “Hello Reggie. Welcome to the
bundok,”
using the Tagalog word which had evolved into ‘boondocks” during the last century of Americans fighting insurgents in the Philippines, back in the period when General Douglas MacArthur's father was the U.S. commander in the islands.

Liu smiled back. “Thornton, I see you and Ms. Otakan here work well as a team. Thanks to you, your handlers in Manila have fixed the enemy for us.”

Elaiza positioned herself between Liu and Hayes. “Thanks, Colonel. My upgraded iPod did the job.”

Liu acknowledged the young woman in army fatigues. “I should say, thanks both to your work and the two of you being in the field and on their tail.”

“Can you confirm that the Abu Sayaf haven't moved since you came in from the field?” Mundy looked at Thornton.

“Welcome to the zone of operations, Mundy. I'm sure you'll be at home here.” Thornton smiled back and answered his question. “They're down for the day. Based on their habits, from my observation, they don't move during daylight hours once they've settled into a position.”

“I wasn't sure you had received the last position confirmation from the embassy, Mr. Mundy.” Elaiza looked short, standing next to all the tall guys, especially Mundy, who was wearing a steel helmet that added to his over six-foot height.

“I'm sorry, Ms. Otakan, I couldn't communicate with you once I was airborne, and knew I'd see you here. Thanks, your code system worked.” He turned to the group. “So, if they haven't moved since Thornton arrived here, then we have them fixed.”

“I expect they're where Elaiza reported using the TIAM.” Thornton had been thinking about how he and STAGCOM alone could have done the job quickly. With Liu and the Task Force Davao now on the scene, he would have to work with them. “Major Hayes, your German must be getting better. I understood everything Moser said.”

“Moser did the talking. I just helped him sketch out what he was going to say before he translated it.” Hayes asked, “How many of them are there?”

“Good question.” Liu didn't know what he was up against. “But first, Ms. Otakan, using your codes and the radio was a great idea, well-executed. Good job. But without being right on their butts during their trek here, we would have no idea whether there is a squad or a company-sized unit there. Thornton?”

“The patrol we followed had seventeen in it,” he answered. “We were
able to stay close enough to them to be sure. They have six Garand rifles, two M203 grenade launchers and the other nine have M-16s. No AK-47s or RPGs.”

“That fits the Abu Sayaf signature, small units, moving at night,” Liu responded, and with his eyebrows encouraged all present to comment.