Terrorism – ellen tordesillas

In the name of drugs again

Published by Ellen on October 27, 2017

President Duterte is simplifying the root cause of five-month war in Marawi by attributing it to drugs.

There’s a problem in this version because it does not address the age-old and complex issue of the tension in Mindanao which security experts say is mutating into a more dangerous terrorist movement.

In his speech at the Commemorative session of Asean Law Association Governing Council Wednesday, Duterte said, “How did the Marawi siege start? If I may ask you,’Do you know?’ It was started because the police went there to serve a warrant of arrest of one of the Mautes, for drugs. When they went there to serve the warrant, they were met with a volley of fire, they had to call in the Marines.”

Duterte tells how the government misread Maute threat

Published by Ellen on June 18, 2017

Pres. Duterte’s first public appearance after five-day absence at the 4th Infantry Division in Bancasi, Butuan City. Malacañang photo.

In his re-appearance speech five days after he was not seen in public, President Duterte gave an explanation for the military’s “mis-appreciation” of intelligence report that has been blamed for the difficulty being encountered by government forces in the ongoing war against the Islamist militants in Marawi city.

It will be recalled that Solicitor General Jose Calida said that the military had received intel reports about possible Maute- Abu Sayyaf attack in Marawi five days before May 23, when the fighting started sparked by the serving of warrant of arrest to ASG leader Isnilon Hapilon. The fierce fighting was the basis of the declaration of Martial Law in Mindanao by Duterte on May 23 .

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, who was in Moscow with the President together with other high-ranking security officials said there was no lapse in intelligence monitoring. “It’s just appreciation of the intelligence that was lacking there,” he said.

Bringing stupidity to another level

Published by Ellen on June 8, 2017

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre in a press briefing spreading fake news.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre probably thought the public would buy his tale linking opposition lawmakers to the Maute terror group which is one of the reasons for the current turmoil in Marawi City.

It only affirmed his stupidity.

As social media commenter Joel Vivas tweeted, “Kakaibang level.”

Duterte bestows ISIS status on Maute group

Published by Ellen on May 31, 2017

By Charmaine Deogracias
VERA Files

Before May 23, 2017, the band of bandits operating in the Lanao area called Maute Group was nothing but an armed network of clans with familial ties to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. But the Maute Group is now an international terrorist organization, thanks to President Rodrigo Duterte and his declaration of martial law in Mindanao.

What is referred to in military and police reports as a local
group has now been renamed Maute ISIS. Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff Eduardo Año on Friday said the AFP is considering classifying the group as an international terrorist organization.

In awe of how the French handled the crisis

Published by Ellen on November 15, 2015

Pres. Hollande declares state of emergency. Televised address Saturday.

We join everybody in condemning the attacks in Paris and nearby places that killed more than 120 people and injured about 200 Friday night.

There’s no justification for violence perpetrated on innocent people.

The group ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), a fanatical group that aims to transform the entire earth as an Islamic State and promotes religious violence to achieve its goals, has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Heartbreaking

Published by Ellen on December 18, 2014

The world is no stranger to heinous crimes but nothing is more abominable that the massacre of schoolchildren in Peshawar, a large valley close to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border,Tuesday.

This is excerpts from a New York Times report:

“First the Pakistani Taliban bombed or burned over 1,000 schools. Then they shot Malala Yousafzai, the teenage advocate for girls’ rights.

“But on Tuesday, the Taliban took their war on education to a ruthless new low with an assault on a crowded school in Peshawar that killed 145 people — 132 of them uniformed schoolchildren — in the deadliest single attack in the group’s history.

Wala na si Bin ladin, tuloy ang ingat

Published by Ellen on May 3, 2011

Ngayong patay na si Osama bin Ladin, ang tanong ng karamihan ay, “Mas ligtas na ba ngayon ang mundo?”
Oo at hindi.

“Oo” dahil kahit papaano, mapipilayan sila. Nawalan sila ng isang lider na inspirasyon nila sa kanilang baluktot na pag-iisip.

“Hindi” dahil siguradong marami naman sila sa kanilang organisasyun at sa ganoong paniwala. May mga bagong lider sa ganoong paniniwala na aakyat balang araw. At dahil nga siguro sa pagkamatay ni Bin Ladin, hindi nakakapagtaka kung nag-aapoy sila ngayon sa galit at gustong maghihiganti.

US forces kill Osama bin Laden in Pakistan

Published by Ellen on May 2, 2011

From MSN:

Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks that killed thousands of Americans, was slain in his luxury hideout in Pakistan early Monday in a firefight with U.S. forces, ending a manhunt that spanned a frustrating decade.

“Justice has been done,” President Barack Obama declared as crowds formed outside the White House to celebrate. Many sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “We Are the Champions,” NBC News reported.

Hundreds more waved American flags at ground zero in New York — where the twin towers that once stood as symbols of American economic power were brought down by bin Laden’s hijackers 10 years ago.

Category: Terrorism