EDITORIAL - Crush the Abu Sayyaf first

By now we’ve heard enough from everyone trying to ride on the tragedy that has befallen the United States. There are the leftists singing the tired refrain of US imperialism even before all the bodies are buried, the cops who could have saved the World Trade Center if only their reports were heeded by the Americans, the senator who’s demanding compensation for any Philippine contribution to American military retaliation against terrorists. Crackpots are having a field day in text messages. Yesterday even Madam Auring, the self-styled seeress who failed to predict her defeat at the polls, put in her two cents worth.

When the hysteria subsides, our cops and soldiers can go back to work. This in fact could be the Philippines’ biggest contribution to the international fight against terrorism. The nation has been battling terrorism for many years, and the most ruthless and notorious of these terrorist groups happens to be affiliated with the forces believed responsible for the attacks in New York and Washington, DC. For nearly a decade the Islamic extremism of the Abu Sayyaf, whose late founder trained as a guerrilla in Afghanistan, has claimed dozens of lives. The group’s terrorism has put a drag on the economy and set back development in Mindanao.

Instead of debating whether the country should send combat troops to assist the United States – an unlikely move, since the Philippines has always limited its contribution to combat support and peacekeeping personnel – the nation should focus on the immediate task at hand: wiping out the Abu Sayyaf threat. The nation’s combat troops should go to Basilan and implement their commander-in-chief’s oft-repeated order to crush the Abu Sayyaf.

Congress, for its part, can work double-time on legislation to fight money laundering and fine-tune rules governing the financial markets. As ongoing investigations in Europe indicate, terrorists use the markets and regular financial channels to provide funding for their operations.

The terrorists convicted in the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993 were caught with the help of Philippine law enforcers. Osama bin Laden’s brother-in-law runs a non-go-vernment organization in Mindanao. Law enforcers aren’t being entirely paranoid when they say that Bin Laden’s cohorts may seek refuge or even operate in the Philippines. By all means Philippine law enforcers should share with their foreign counterparts information on suspected terrorists. But the military and police can contribute more to the fight against terrorism by concentrating on winning the battle against home-grown terrorists.