Actually, more specifically, to prevent the spread of Communism in the Phillipines and Indonesia.
In the early 1960s, there was a fear that there could be Communist Revolutions in both these nations. In both cases, the Communists were eliminated through brutal repression - by Marcos in the Phillipines and Suharto in Indonesia.
If you wonder why these two countries, check out where Nike makes most of its tennis shoes; or where your VCR comes from.
Just another case of the Pentagon being the muscle that protects the international corporate machine.
