Manila hostage crisis

On August 23 2010, 9:30am, a former police officer Rolando Mendoza boarded a tourist bus Hong Thai 799 carrying 25 Hong Kong tourists. He boarded the bus and asked the driver if it is going to the Heros graves. He then brandished his M16 rifle and announced to everyone on board that they are his hostages and also told them that the issue is not with them but with the Phillipine government. In 2008, he was accused of corruption and drug charges and as a result lost his job and his retirement benefits in 2010. He demanded  his job back. The tourist bus stopped at the Quirino Grandstand where President Benigno Aquino was inaugurated two months earlier. He stuck a big paper on the windscreen demanding his job back and his name to be cleared. Police surrounded the area and started negotiations.

A woman started having stomach pain which got worse and she was released. Mendoza released her on the condition that she will come back. The police did not allow her after her release. The woman's husband was diebetic and needed medical attention. He was released and reunited with his wife. Mendoza's daughter apologized to the two for her father's action.  As a gesture of goodwill, a mother and three children are released in exchange for media to come but the police did not allow them. The police never interviewed the two about the situation inside. During hostage situations, it is always important to interview released hostages to gather important intellegence before carrying out any assault/rescue attempt.

At 3pm, a brother of Mendoza, Gregorio (also a police officer) sneaked through police lines wearing street clothes and carrying a handgun. He wanted to talk to Mendoza before being taken away with his gun confiscated. At night, it was raining and police gave Mendoza a letter that did not please him. The letter said it was offering an extention to review his case and that this process takes over 10 days. Mendoza was angry wanting his name to be cleared on the day. A radio channel managed to contact Mendoza's cellphone which he read the letter live on air. As night continue, Mendoza got impatient and angry. As a former police captain, he knew police tactics and knew that police are trying to wear him out. Gregorio was arrested for breaching police cordons and carrying a gun earlier that day. He refused to coorporate and laid on the ground refusing to leave. A brawl occurred and his son joined him in protest. Mendoza saw the whole scene live on the bus's TV and demanded his brother to be released or he'll start shooting. He eventually lost his patience and shot a tour guide (handcuffed to the door) dead. He then opened fire on the hostages. A hostage  named Joe and another fellow hostage attempted to attack Mendoza. Mendoza shot and killed the fellow hostage and Joe retreated back to his seat where he put his bag in front of his head as defence. Mendoza's bullets blasted the bag to pieces wounding both of Joe's hands and then leaned forward playing dead.

The bus driver had his handcuffs taken away and was ordered to drive. Police shot the tires and Mendoza started firing on the hostages at the back of the bus. The driver then jumped out of the window and ran to police. The driver kept yelling that everyone is dead. Police never interviewed him and assumed that all hostages were killed. This was another missed opportunity to gather important intellegence about the situation inside the bus. Police only interviewed Mendoza's brother Gregorio and still had problems detaining him. The Special Action Force (SAF), trained by the FBI, were deployed under the orders of President Aquino. The police commander however decided to order the police SWAT to conduct the assault instead. The SWAT team were surprised seeing that the SAF were ordered by the president to deploy. The police managed to publish a letter granting Mendoza reinstatement and approved his name to be cleared. The letter was not delivered as it was stuck in traffic and did not make it on time. Attempts to contact Mendoza's cellphone failed. At 7:37pm, the SWAT were deployed with three snipers hiding in the Quirino Grandstand. The heavy rain made it difficult to get a visual on Mendoza. The SWAT team hid on the side of the bus smashing the windows trying to get a clear visual but to their surprise, the windows were alot tougher than expected and tried breaching the front door before meeting gunfire from Mendoza. A tour guide was cuffed to the door dead and the SWAT commander was thinking of how to get in as the front door was jammed. The SWAT team were also seen throwing glow sticks inside and after failing to get in a number of times for ten minutes, they were given informal advice from the onlooking media. They were recommended to breach the back door. They did so and finally able to get in before again meeting Mendoza's gunfire. As the situation was filmed live, Mendoza was able to see the SWAT team's action on the bus's TV. At 8:11pm, the SAF were finally ordered to join the SWAT in assaulting the bus. Tear gas was thrown into the back of the bus which forced Mendoza moved to the front of the bus and at 8:41pm, a police sniper shot and killed him. He laid dead on the front door. Nine hostages were also killed and six were injured.

When the siege was over, there were complete disorginisation with media being able to get up close to the bus slowing down emergency services doing their job. There were a lack of coordination in medical support which led to victims turned away from hospitals which caused more delays for medical treatment.

The police were heavily criticised on their hostage rescue attempt. Critics claimed that Mendoza had let his guard down several times by exposing himself which gave snipers the golden opportunity to kill him. Experts claim that the police should have cut a circuit under the bus that would enable the front door to open and by going on low profile, be able to enter quickly to end the situation.

The Art of War

The Art of War was written by Sun Tzu is a text explaining military strategy as a guide to victory.

Sun Tzu lived in the state of Wu during the Warring States period. The state of Chu became hostile towards Wu and had over 100,000 troops compared to Wu's 30,000 troops. Sun Tzu believed that discipline was a key factor in having a strong military force. He gathered a group of palace ladies and ordered them to get into formation when drums began beating. The ladies laughed and Sun Tzu explained the instructions agian in a clear manner. When the ladies laughed and did not move again, he executed one of the ladies and ordered them to start again. At this point, the ladies got into formation without hesitation. Sun Tzu was then appointed the commander of the Wu forces. At the start of the war, Sun Tzu did not embrace for the Chu's large army as he did not have the numbers. Instead of attacking the strong points, he decided to attack the weak points. He invaded Chu and destroyed Chu's remote outposts and maneuvered to avoid Chu's reinforcements. In other words, Chu's big army was going backwards and forwards only to find that Sun Tzu's forces had disappeared. Sun Tzu's tactics had frustrated Chu's forces with many defections made towards Wu. Chu decided to punish and invade Cai, a nation north of Chu. The duke of Cai called for it's ally Wu for help as they did not have the force to hold back Chu. Sun Tzu deployed a small force towards Cai which is used a bait that drew the Chu forced away from Cai and so that meant that Cai was saved without a single battle. The small force confronts the main Chu forces while Sun Tzu's main forces head to the Ying, Chu's capital. The commander of the Chu's main forces decided to chase Sun Tzu's main force otherwise if the commander of the Ying's commander held off Wu's main force then he will take credit. The commander of Chu's main forces was arrogant which was never part of Sun Tzu's thinking. As Chu's main forces gave chase, Sun Tzu turned around and surrounded them with the smaller force to catch up and attack their rear. Sun Tzu's 20000 elite troops ambushed the Chu main force by surprise and won. His movement towards Ying was deception that attracted Chu's main force. After the war Sun Tzu disappeared as he did not like his leaders' behaviour and the King of Wu enjoying the wealth he has when entering Ying. So how did an army of 30,000 defeated and army of over 100,000? Sun Tzu used preparation to discipline his troops, deception to lure the Chu forces and indirect attacks by attacking weak points and never confronting Chu head on.

So does Sun Tzu's Art of War apply to wars being fought today or the past 200 years?


Lets look at the American Civil War for example. During the Battle of Gettysberg, the Confederates attacked the Union troops sitting on top of Cemetery Hill. The Art of War advised that it is not wise to attack forces sitting on top of a hill. During the Civil War, the battles were often fought with both sides confronting each other head on which caused heavy casualties while the Art of War advised that attacks should be made towards the weakest points, in other words, Sun Tzu only wanted to use minimal resources.

During World War 2, the Art of War was applied on the D-Day invasion. Nazi Germany knew that the Allies were going to invade Europe soon and it definately around Northern France as it was in range of air support provided by planes stationed in Southern England. The Allies did some deception tactics prior to the D-Day invasion. Fake tanks (inflated) and equipment were used as fake intelligence and to make the Germans think that other beaches, not Normandy, would be invaded. During the invasion, the Allies were successful while the Germans failed. This was because of generals had no interference from their leaders. The Allies had a simple command structure with Dwight Eisenhower being the top Commander with easy access to other commanders. The Germans had a complex command structure with Hitler being the top and it meant that Hitler was the one making the final decision. The Field Marshal was serperated from the Navy and Air Force while the SS was under Himmler's command. This complex command structure was completely opposite to the Art of War.

During the Vietnam War, General Vo Nguyen Giap had followed the Art of War. He did not fought against the Americans head on because he knew his forces and the enemy just what the Art of War stated. Instead, he chose to conduct guerrilla warfare and to outthink the US instead of outfighting them. The US dropped 7 million tonnes of bombs on Vietnam relying on sheer military force to advance which Sun Tzu does not recommend. Giap knew the US would launch airstrikes before sending troops in. Giap ordered his forces to take shelter during the airstrikes and ambush the Americans when they land. Giap even ordered his forces to fight closely with the Americans to prevent US air support from bombing it's own men. Giap constantly harassed US troops via ambush, booby traps and snipers to the point where the American public no longer supported the war. In other words, the US were losing the war in Vietnam because of it's support lost from it's people. Giap subdue the US without any head on/direct fighting. Giap's advisors got impatient and demanded a full scale head on attack against the US troops. Giap decides to launch all attacks at all South Vietnamese cities and bases at the same time and kept the plan secret and launch the operation by surprise which was called the Tet Offensive. Giap even used spies prior to the offensive. Giap promised a cease fire during the Tet New Year and made a direct attack on Khe Sanh. He wanted the direct attack on Khe Sanh to be a destraction while the indirect attack on all South Vietnamese cities and bases to win the war. However, during the Tet Offensive, the Viet Cong hoped the people of South VIetnam rose and help them win but the massacre of South Vietnamese sympathizers in Hue saw the people of South Vietnam refusing to give support. The images of the Tet Offensive saw the increase in support from the American public. Giap returned to his typical guerrilla tactics which led to anti war protests in the US. After US withdrawal, Saigon finally fell to North Vietnam.

In a such a short time

Normally a big project would take years if not, decades to build like cruise ships, dams, skyscrapers, bridges and tunnels. Imagine building a small island, an airport, miles of highway, railway lines and a large suspension bridge in seven years? This happened in Hong Kong and the reason for seven years was because Hong Kong was to be handed over back to China from the British. The engineers feared the if not completed by then, the Chinese might pull the plug.

Hong Kong needed a new airport as Kai Tak was overwhelmed by huge number of passengers and cargo with only one runway. Due to the overwhelming numbers, if incoming cargo is delayed, then millions of dollars is at stake. Expansion was impossible as Kai Tak was surrounded by buildings and skyscrapers. When pilots land, they often flew low around buildings which was considered dangerous for people living in apartments around the airport.

The only option left was to build a new airport. There was too few land to build and looked at Chek Lap Kok and Lam Chau Islands. Both islands were mountainous and work began on clearing the mountains so both islands were level. The rubble was not wasted but used to connect both islands. Ships were used to vacuum the sea bed to expose the flat bedrock before adding the rubble on top. Because of the shortage of time, The terminals had identical rooves with 126 of them mass produced on sight. A cargo terminal was built with state of the art system where cargo can be transferred through a conveyor belt and if lifted through a high levels of shelves for storage.

Infrastructure had to built to and from the airport. Hong Kong already had two tunnels built decades ago. Due to constant heavy traffic, a new six lane tunnel had to be built. Bridges in the city had to be built due to heavy traffic. It was only built at night and on top of existing roads. Through the Ma Wan channel, a tunnel was going to be built but was too dangerous to build due to theavy traffic of container ships. The Tsing Ma Bridge (long suspension) was built. It was also tall enough for any ship to pass under. At 1733 metres long, engineers found that a deadly typhoon can knock it down so the bridge was made heavier. A tunnel was added inside along with a railway line and it became a double decker bridge. High speed railway lines were built along the highways for the millions of people using rail transport each day.

The fear of not completing on time was showing and negotiations were being made with the Chinese. When Hong Kong was handed back to China, the terminal was still not completed and the fear of the Chinese pulling the plug did not occurred. The Chinese gave Hong Kong a one year extension to complete the airport construction which they have successfully done.

Hong Kong Airport opened in 1998 with the historic closure of Kai Tak. The runway flights were turned off after the final takeoff made by Cathay Pacific and the quote "Goodbye Kai Tak, and thank you" before turning off the runway lights. All the equipment was moved to the new airport in seven hours. Cathay Pacific also made the first landing on the new airport. Hong Kong Airport's location away from the city centre would be alot safer instead of having planes constantly flying low above apartments. To be able to build big infrastructures and a big airport in seven years is an incredible achievement for the tiny land of Hong Kong.

30 day video game challenge - Day 30

My favourite game of all time

30 day video game challenge - Day 29

A game I thought I would not like, but ended up loving

After enjoying Modern Warfare 2's epic gameplay and graphics, I thought Bad Company 2 was no match against it. Bad Company 2 managed to impress the community with it's comedy campaign along with huge destruction and vehicles in multiplayer.

30 day video game challenge - Day 28

Favourite game developer

A company from Sweden, developed the Battlefield series and made big success from Battlefield 2 to Battlefield Play4Free to Battlefield 2142. It was very brave of them to accept a challenge given from EA to develop Battlefield 3 and try to take down Modern Warfare 3 in late 2011. They managed impressed the gaming community with it's Frostbite 2 engine and major features that Modern Warfare 3 did not offer like 64 player modes, huge maps, vehicles, etc. Battlefield 4 is expected to be released in late 2013 and expections are high. This year celebrates Battlefield's 10th anniversary.

30 day video game challenge - Day 27

Most epic scene ever

In Battlefield 3's mission "Going Hunting" where the player is flying through the Carrier Battle Group after take off with the Battlefield theme playing while base is giving the pilot its next instructions. Sure you're not piloting the plane but the thrill, the sound effect and the speed of flying off the carrier is amazing.

30 day video game challenge - Day 26

Best voice acting - Battlefield 3

Digital sounds and great voice acting puts the game one step further to realism. During development, Andy McNab (former SAS) assisted the development by giving advice on how soldiers think, act and talk trying to reflect what a real soldier would speak.

 

"Words like 'maybe', 'we will try to' or 'we will attempt', don't exist in a soldier's world. We use words like 'you will', 'I will', 'we will'. All dialogue is absolute because soldiers in the real world must be positive in everything they do. After all, real lives are at stake, so there is no room for failure."

Andy McNab

30 day video game challenge - Day 25

A game I plan on playing

Using the Frostbite 2 engine, showing off epic campaign trailers plus having multiple special forces factions in multiplayer makes the game look very promising.

30 day video game challenge - Day 24

Favourite classic game - Road Rash

Riding through highways and cities while evading police plus trying to reach the top three without putting too much damage on the bike puts in alot of fun and adrenaline.

30 day video game challenge - Day 23

Game with best graphics - Battlefield 3's Frostbite 2 engine

30 day video game challenge - Day 22

A game sequel that disappointed me

Modern Warfare 3 using the same I.W 4.0 engine as Modern Warfare 2 despite knowing that they were facing competition against Battlefield 3 and it's Frostbite 2 engine. After a lawsuit occurred between Infinity Ward's West and Zampella against Activision, 44 Infinity Ward employees left to joing West and Zampella's new company. This crippled IW which saw Sledgehammer Games and Raven Software to help co-develop Modern Warfare 3. A new engine was never developed and many gamers complained it looked like the same as previous Call of Duty games even though MW3 later made $400 million in the first 24 hours plus reaching $1 billion in 16 days beating Avatar who reached it in 17 days.

30 day video game challenge - Day 21

Game with best story -   Ghost Recon - Future Soldier

30 day video game challenge - Day 20

Favourite genre - First person shooter

 

30 day video game challenge - Day 19

Picture of a game setting I wished I lived in - Rise of Nations