'U.S. troops will free oppressed in RP'

'U.S. troops will free oppressed in RP'

Reuters, Zamboanga, Philippines

Only a few of these men are built like the steely warriors they
are reputed to be. Most look like college freshmen while a few
exude the air of university professors.

But the elite U.S. Green Beret troops that arrived on the
small Philippine island of Basilan on Sunday have been to some of
the world's hottest flashpoints -- Somalia, Iraq, Haiti, Kosovo,
Afghanistan -- carrying the battle cry: "Liberate the Oppressed".

Officially known as special forces, the troops carry America's
war on terror to Basilan, the mainly Muslim island in the
southern Philippines, for exercises aimed at stamping out Abu
Sayyaf guerrillas Washington has linked to Osama bin Laden.

"We are trained to survive. We're trained for every situation
that could come up, everything," Sergeant Bryan McFarland, 24,
told Reuters before two U.S. military helicopters lifted him and
his buddies out of Zamboanga city to Basilan, the Abu Sayyaf's
island stronghold 900 km (560 miles) south of Manila.

Shaped like a turtle and about three times the size of
Singapore, Basilan is clad in jungles so thick you cannot see the
enemy five meters (yards) beyond your nose, Filipino soldiers
say.

The landing of the U.S. special forces on Basilan marked the
most significant expansion of America's campaign against terror
after the destruction of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

Its fighters from the U.S. Army are better known as the Green
Berets, while their Air Force counterparts are dubbed air
commandos. The Navy component, called Naval Special Warfare
Command, is more popularly known as the Seals.

Officers say each special force unit has its own specialty.
Collectively, they are experts in guerrilla warfare and counter
terrorism, in conducting raids with the stealth and quickness of
a cat and the deadliness of a tiger.

They are experts in surveillance, using high tech equipment,
and one of their units, Delta Force, has a reputation for
rescuing hostages from behind enemy lines.

They are trained as sharpshooters and can parachute into enemy
territory from low-flying aircraft or land from assault
helicopters equipped with special radar that enables them to fly
through the heaviest storms over mountainous terrain.
Individual equipment includes body armour, assault rifles, and
night vision goggles.