Yes, We Have a Philippines Front in the War on Terror

While the campaign against al Qaeda began in October 2001 with the assault on their Taliban host in Afghanistan, it soon after was waged in the little-remembered Philippines theater starting in January 2002. We're back.

Our government responsibly ended (as I'm sure the Obama administration termed it) the Philippines campaign against jihadis in 2015, but now we are back:

U.S. special forces have joined the battle to crush Islamist militants holed up in a southern Philippines town, officials said on Saturday, as government forces struggled to make headway and 13 marines were killed in intense urban fighting.

The Philippines military said the United States was providing technical assistance to end the siege of Marawi City by fighters allied to Islamic State, which is now in its third week, but it had no boots on the ground.

We have enemies persistent in their hatred and desire to slaughter innocents. So we can't tire in our efforts to kill jihadis where we find them.