This report provides an overview and policy analysis of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group in the Philippines and the recently announced Philippine-U.S. program of military cooperation against it. It examines the origins and operations of Abu Sayyaf, the efforts of the Philippine government and military to eliminate it, and the implications of a greater U.S. military role in attempts to suppress it. The report will be updated periodically.

This report discusses key issues in U.S.-Philippine relations and developments in Philippine politics, economics, society, and foreign relations. Global terrorism concerns have brought the United States and the Republic of the Philippines (RP) closer together, but they also have produced some bilateral tensions and highlighted weaknesses in Philippine economic, political, and military institutions. The RP faces terrorist threats through alleged cooperation among three groups — Jeremiah Islamiah (JI), the main Southeast Asian Islamic terrorist organization with ties to Al Qaeda; Abu Sayyaf, a small, violent Muslim separatist group which operates in Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago in the southern Philippines; and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), an armed separatist group with alleged ties to both JI and Abu Sayyaf. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has strongly supported the U.S.-led war on terrorism.

Front: Text describes action on various war fronts: German offensive gains momentum, "Greatest Japanese Defeat," Soviet forces in action, Fighting bitter on Italian front. Maps: [German offensive] -- Mindoro -- Philippine Islands -- Leyte, Samar battle area -- Czechoslovakia, Hungary border -- Northern Italy near Bologna. Back: 1945 calendar with advice: "Every day be careful what you say or write!"

Front: Text describes action on various war fronts: Jap-Held Island Hammered from Air, Philippines take Allied Aerial Blows, Allies Blunt German Western Front Drive, Battle Rages Inside Budapest. Maps: Burma, India, China -- Iwo-Jima -- Distance from Japan to Saipan -- Philippine targets -- Belgium region -- Central Europe -- Eastern front. Back: Map of Germany and its approaches.

Front: Text describes action on various war fronts: Allies score multiple gains in Burma; Luzon hammered from air-superforts active; German bulge compressed; new Philippine landings. Maps: Pacific action; [Burma]; steps to Luzon; Luzon invasion; Counter-offensives. Back: Two black and white aerial photographs of Duren, Germany: before and after.

Front: Text describes action on various war fronts: U.S. aircrafts invade enemy waters, American troops penetrate Luzon, Allies Strike German Perimeter, Red Army on the Move. Maps: U.S. aircrafts invade enemy waters -- Western front salient -- Burma -- American troops penetrate Luzon -- Road to Manila -- Soviet offensive. Back: Color map of Sumatra and Malay states

Front: Text describes action on various war fronts: German Salient Compressed, Red Army in Full Scale Offensive, Tarlac Falls - Pacific Air Action Continues. Maps: European fronts -- South from Lingayen -- Formosa -- South China Sea. Back: Color poster highlights the importance of saving.

Interview with John Wilson, an officer in the U. S. Army during World War II. Wilson was born in Illinois but attended high school in the Philippines after his father accepted an engineering position there. He graduated from high school in 1939 and then enrolled in the University of Wisconsin, where he participated in the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program. He graduated and took his commission in the Army in 1943. After Officer Candidate School (OCS), he was assigned to an engineering unit slated to participate in the invasion of the Philippines. He eventually landed on Luzon. On Luzon he was assigned temporary duty with a small Philippine Civil Affairs unit that was made up of officers and men who had relatives interned by the Japanese in the Philippines. His small unit made their way to Santo Tomas where he liberated many friends and old school mates. A few weeks later, Wilson liberated his father, a civilian internee at Los Banos. Wilson remained with his unit constructing hospitals in the Philippines in anticipation of the casualties expected from the invasion of the Japanese home islands.

Interview with Glenn E. McDuffie, an Armed Guard in the U. S. Navy during World War II. He discusses lying about his age in order to join the navy at 15 and his experience in boot camp. He served as an Armed Guard on merchant ships that transported supplies across the Atlantic and remembers being in London while German bombers flew overhead. He transported German prisoners out of Marseilles and Naples shortly after the liberation of those cities. He remembers going to Times Square upon hearing that the Japanese had surrendered. He claims to have been the sailor in the iconic photo of the sailor kissing the nurse in Times Square on V-J Day. He describes how he proved he was the sailor in the photo, what he did after the war, and how he learned that his brother survived the Bataan Death March.

Photograph taken for a story in the Oklahoma Times newspaper. Caption: "Trophies were added to the case at the 33rd. Air Defense division by a A/2c Lowell B. Jones, left, Philadelphia, and A/ 2c Regino Contawe, Manila, Philippines."

Report collecting statistics from a variety of sources on casualties sustained during Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), which began on October 7, 2001. OEF actions take place primarily in Afghanistan; however, OEF casualties also includes American casualties in Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Guantanamo Bay (Cuba), Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, the Philippines, Seychelles, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Yemen.

Report that looks at the U.S. foreign policy towards the Philippines.

Photograph of a military Jeep driving on a railroad track. Several soldiers look over their shoulders at the camera.

Photograph used for a newspaper owned by the Oklahoma Publishing Company. Caption: "Visitor in our midst is Sen. Francisco Rodrigo of the Phillipines; lawyer, prominent Catholic layman; typical of the new type office holder in the 13 year old republic."

Photograph of Filipino children standing in a canal surrounded with water.

Photograph of soldiers walking in a field in the Philippines, with palm trees around them. A handwritten note on the back of the photo says "Lunch the day we landed in the Philippines."

Photograph of the Philippines shore seen from the ocean.

Photograph of a ship in the ocean near the Philippines. A handwritten note on the back of the photo says "Landing in the Philippines."

Photograph of a soldier sitting in a folding chair near a tent with cots. A handwritten note on the back of the photo says "A day or so after the second Philippine beach head."

This report discusses the history and current status of relations between the United States and the Republic of the Philippines (RP), including policy issues and recent political events.

Interview with A. B. Rawlinson, a machine gunner in the US Army during WWII. He answers questions about his life during the war and his experience abroad.

Script from the WBAP-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas, relating a news story.

Script from the WBAP-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas, relating a news story.

Interview with George Holcombe, a Methodist pastor and civil rights activist from Houston, Texas, and his wife and associate Wanda, from Sims, Texas. The Holcombes discuss their family origins, initial exposure to racial problems and civil rights, their respective educations, pastoral work in Baton Rouge and Chicago, the Ku Klux Klan and dangers encountered, work with the Ecumenical Institute of Chicago and empowering black communities, the 1968 Chicago riots, Fifth City, and similar work in Australia and the Philippines.