SOUNDING BOARD is an outlet for opinions on good and crazy things going on at home (wherever I may be). All are welcome. You are not expected to bring anything except your common sense & sense of humor.
'If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get one million miles to the gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside.'
-Robert X. Cringely (from geek wisdom)
SOUNDING BOARD
Thursday, January 09, 2003
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The key to tackling JI and terrorism as a whole
In a recent article entitled "Tackling Terror", TIME Asia stressed that collaboration among Asia's governments is crucial in winning the war against terror, with special slant on Jemaah Islamiah. It lies in common counterterrorism intelligence databases, exchange of personnel, transfer of expertise, joint operations, and sharing of experience. The article also draw attention to the need to tackle the roots of terrorism. Governments need to ensure that Muslim communities in their countries are not marginalized.
This focus on addressing marginalization (distinct from poverty per se) is the lacking ingredient the counter-terrorism strategy of the Philippines. Confronted by the series of terroristic activities of the Abu Sayyaf, Ms. Arroyo's words reveal how shallow she understands the situation.
“The fight against terrorism is intertwined with the fight against poverty. Terrorism is caused by evil. Evil can spread its ideology when people are poor” (San Francisco Chronicle, 25 November 2001).
However, there is a need to recognize interplay of other factors other than poverty. While it is undeniably important, addressing poverty is only a piece of the puzzle. In fact the arrest of 21 Singaporeans in August 2002 for terrorism-related activities allegedly under the Jemaah Islamiah further puts the poverty-terrorism link into question. The 21 detainees all earned decent wages and owned their houses. Specifically, 14 of them earned between S$ 1,500 and S$ 3,000 (1 Singapore $ roughly equals 30 pesos), with one of them earning more than S$ 5,000 per month (Straits Times, 27 September 2002). Employing poverty alleviation as a counterterrorism strategy in this case will not certainly make a dent. Peru's case also weakens the poverty-terrorism link. Peru was able to downplay the appeal of the Shining Path terrorist group. This was done not through military pressure or poverty alleviation but through interacting with the people and opening the legal system for people’s participation and entrepreneurship.
Addressing poverty is important, but, like military action, it is not enough. The experiences of Peru and Singapore serve as lessons for the Arroyo government to look at poverty alleviation only as one part of the important components of a counter-terrorism strategy. And if Ms. Arroyo would like to attain her ambitious short term target to eliminate Abu Sayyaf by 2003 and arrive at a long term solution to terrorism in the Philippines, she needs to look at the problem in a holistic manner.
posted by Allan at 7:57 PM (GMT+8)
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