US Defense officials in RP for COIN ops (tags)
A US defense official arrived in the country Wednesday and met with local defense and intelligence executives, said a spokesperson for the US Embassy. “Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Garry Reid is here,” said US Press Attaché Rebecca Thompson in a phone interview with INQUIRER.net. Counter-Insurgency (COIN) According to Philippine Daily Inquirer(PDI) sources not authorized to talk to media said initially that it was Michael Vickers, assistant secretary for defense for Special Operations, Low Intensity Conflict and Independent Capabilities, who was scheduled to go to DND and to the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA).
AFP gets P10-billion hardware shop list (tags)
THE Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will be embarking on a spending spree with President Arroyo approving on Friday a P10-billion shopping list for military hardware. The President and concurrent defense secretary gave AFP brass the green light to bid out 14 contracts. Mrs. Arroyo also on Friday vowed to defeat communist and secessionist rebels in Mindanao before her term of office ends in 2010.