Word: coultrup
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...Philippine military officials believe the MILF-controlled areas are key boltholes for the bombers. "It's someplace safe where they can do their business without having to worry about local informants, because there are some hefty rewards out," says Col. Bill Coultrup, head of the U.S. Joint Special Operations Task Force that is helping the Philippine military hunt terrorists. MILF spokesman Eid Kabulu says there are no formal links between his group and terrorists. However, he says, "there might be some individuals who these people are close to or have some relationship with and who they're in some...
...When the funding starts to dry up, they start to get desperate," says Colonel Bill Coultrup, the Jolo-based commander of the U.S. Joint Special Operations Task Force, which provides military assistance, training and intelligence assistance to Philippine forces. Coultrup's 500 men, who include Army Green Berets and Navy SEALs, are spread throughout the Philippines. Inside a nondescript, windowless building at the task force's Jolo Island base, a half-dozen soldiers are studying laptops. A large screen on the wall shows the video feed from an unmanned drone cruising over potential Abu Sayyaf hideouts in the jungle...
...Coultrup, however, is upbeat. He says the security situation has improved dramatically, thanks in large part to the aid program, and local government is getting stronger. Sulu province "used to be the Wild West," he says. "Now the governor has banned all weapons and private militias and is instituting an islandwide ID-card system." Coultrup says four-fifths of Basilan Island, another hub of Islamist agitation, is also much safer. "The secret to counterinsurgency is if the people can answer yes to two questions,'' says U.S. Special Forces Major Eric Walker: "One, do people believe the government is going...
...city. The explosion killed two people and injured 21. Police are yet to finalize their investigation into the source of the blast but Abu Sayyaf operatives are the prime suspects despite the bomb containing TNT - not the normal mortar rounds used in previous Abu Sayyaf bombings. Colonel Coultrup suspects such operations were "confidence runs" designed to train raw recruits for larger missions...
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