A Safe Place for a War
"It's simply a gang of about
60 brutal thugs.
"It is clear that they're ordinary criminals, unlike the
Taliban, who fought for a cause," said Capt. Harold
Cabunoc, commander of the Philippine forces at Basilan's
Camp Cabunbata, where about a dozen American Special
Operations troops will soon be based (most of the
American troops will stay on safer ground off Basilan).
"These guys just kidnap for money. They're just common
criminals."
The New York Times
February 8, 2002
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
CAMP CABUNBATA,
Philippines
This steamy, sullen jungle island
of Basilan is becoming the next
front in America's war on terror,
and everybody is getting ready for
the 660 American troops who are
beginning to arrive in the area.
Muslim fighters are sending their wives away, out of
respect for American military prowess. Philippine soldiers
are angling for new laser targeting gear, out of respect for
American technology. And bars are busy recruiting
teenage girls as "entertainers," out of respect for American
libido.
But we've been had. This new deployment of troops isn't
really about fighting international terrorism, as the Bush
administration insists (and perhaps believes, which may
be worse).
Anyone who comes here to the jungles of Basilan, home
to the Abu Sayyaf movement that we're supposed to
destroy, discovers pretty quickly that Abu Sayyaf isn't a
militant Islamic terror group. It's simply a gang of about
60 brutal thugs.
"It is clear that they're ordinary criminals, unlike the
Taliban, who fought for a cause," said Capt. Harold
Cabunoc, commander of the Philippine forces at Basilan's
Camp Cabunbata, where about a dozen American Special
Operations troops will soon be based (most of the
American troops will stay on safer ground off Basilan).
"These guys just kidnap for money. They're just common
criminals."
In the early 1990's, Abu Sayyaf had aims of carving out an
Islamic state in the south of this mostly Roman Catholic
country. But Abu Sayyaf soon degenerated into another of
the gangs that have made kidnapping one of the
Philippines' leading service industries.
Abu Sayyaf has been asking for $2 million ransom in
exchange for a Kansas missionary couple, Martin and
Gracia Burnham (there are signs that we could all be
celebrating their release very soon).
In short, Abu Sayyaf has perfected the art of extorting
money from foreigners. And now President Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo seems to be learning the art as well.
She seized upon the opportunity created by 9/11 to
portray Abu Sayyaf as international terrorists, accepted an
offer by President Bush to eradicate them, and promptly
won $100 million in fresh American military aid.
I have a grudging admiration for Mrs. Arroyo's
shrewdness. Perhaps if New York City wants to get the
assistance that the Bush administration promised it after
9/11 it should demand urgent help crushing
"international terrorists." If the Philippines can get $100
million because of a gang of 60 crooks, think how much
New York City is entitled to!
When I asked President Arroyo whether Abu Sayyaf really
counted as a terrorist group, she acknowledged that in
recent years there had been no proven links to Al Qaeda.
"It doesn't matter if they're connected with Al Qaeda," she
added, asserting that Abu Sayyaf kidnappers were
terrorists because they instilled terror.
Oh? I didn't press her aggressively on that definition of
terrorism. Considering how politicians view journalists, I
thought I might be labeled a terrorist.
Normally I'm thrilled by American efforts to provide
security abroad, but this one makes me nervous. Sure,
Basilan will be better off once Abu Sayyaf is stamped out,
but the Philippine authorities have already reduced the
number of Abu Sayyaf fighters here from 600 three years
ago. The group would have been extinguished soon even
without the complication of American help.
Meanwhile, the American presence is inflaming the
sensitivities of the Muslim minority in the Philippines. In
Manila, I dropped by a Muslim slum and some residents
were venomous as they condemned the arrival of the
American troops.
On Basilan, one danger is that the American troops will
brush against an important rebel group, the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front, and disrupt the peace process between
the front and the Philippine government.
Beyond that, the American deployment here seems little
more than a propaganda ploy, saying less about terrorism
than about politics in Manila and Washington.
Mrs. Arroyo has astutely used the new partnership with
President Bush to shore up her previously wobbly
presidency. And the Bush administration has found a safe
place to continue the war on terrorism, even if a closer
look suggests that isn't exactly what it is.
nytimes.com |
