Philippines et al

[Annie]

Price to be paid.

http://belmontclub.blogspot.com/2004_07_01_belmontclub_archive.html#109075393217887699

...The Manila government has long surrendered sovereignty over large parts of the southern Philippines to the enemy. It is not uncommon for children in Basilan, Jolo or Tawi-tawi to point to arrivals from the capital and exclaim "Look! Here come some Filipinos!" The concern which Arroyo showed towards a Filipino hostage in Iraq does not extend to simple farmers even in the heavily Christian Zamboanga peninsula. "Zamboanga's medical examiner said this week that Abu Sayyaf rebels had been responsible for 76 beheadings over five years in the area surrounding the troubled city."

The Philippines "has a long-standing Islamic insurgency powerful enough to limit state capacity in much of the south, yet so decentralized that what ensues is not a shadow government, but pockets of anarchy", the report says. "These enclaves are dominated by local rebel commanders owing varying degrees of allegiance to umbrella coalitions like the MILF, or ASG, but whose power is rooted in pyramids of particularistic clan and tribal loyalties."

How do those under the gun in Zamboanga feel about Arroyo "standing tall" in Iraq, bravely defying the pressure of arrogant America by going, belly to the floor to feet of a small gang of terrorists? They are not very impressed.

But in the eyes of two military officers contacted by The Weekend Australian, the events of the past week, rather than strike fear in the hearts of the Abu Sayyaf fighters may well have emboldened them. "We take the fight to them every day and our message has been to never give in to terrorism," said one officer insisting on anonymity. "Yet our Government has given in in the blink of an eye when terrorists in Iraq threatened us," he said, referring to the withdrawal of Philippines troops from Iraq following threats to behead the kidnapped contract truck driver Angelo de la Cruz.

Three quarters of a hundred beheadings around Zamboanga never persuaded Manila to stop offering concessions to terrorists in the south. It's a habit long ingrained in leftist circles in the Philippine capital.


posted by wretchard | Permalink: 12:21 AM Zulu