‘Afghanistan’ comment not criticism — Mussomeli

ISABELA CITY, Basilan — US Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Joseph Mussomeli clarified yesterday that his controversial statement about Mindanao becoming an "Afghanistan situation" was a caution to the government, not a criticism.

"We don’t want people to lose attention and we don’t want them to be distracted," he said.

"We are worried that Mindanao and Basilan are so important and the problems are telling us that your government and my government must continue to pay attention," said Mussomeli, who has been nominated as US ambassador to Cambodia just the other day.

Speaking at a meeting with local officials, Mussomeli said the US government does not want what happened in Afghanistan to happen in Mindanao and Basilan.

"Or we run the risk of becoming very, very bad like it did in Afghanistan after the Americans and the rest of the international communities ignored Afghanistan all the way through the ’90s," he said.

Mussomeli warned that if the government and the stakeholders "get distracted," peace and development in Mindanao would be affected.

Referring to the controversy, Mussomeli said: "Despite the fact that some of the Philippine government officials overreacted I think, all in all, it was very good thing," noting it had led to more discussion and debate on the matter.

"People are now paying more attention to Mindanao and that’s what I want," he said. "That’s what the US government wants. Both the American and the Philippine government need to keep focus on Mindanao."

Mussomeli said government officials must understand that the poverty levels in Mindanao are "terrible" and that the education levels are also "terribly" low.

"I think people in Mindanao and in most of its parts understand that what the US government is saying is simply we’re concerned and we want to help," he said.

Mussomeli said people need to understand that the campaign against terrorism is not a conventional war with a clear-cut beginning, middle and end.

"That isn’t the way this war is," he said. "The war on terrorism has been (there) for many decades and not since Sept. 11, 2001," he said.

Mussomeli said there is no single enemy to be eliminated in the war against terrorism, which is being fought on many fronts and in various countries.

"That is why our USAID (people) are here and our military advisers are here," he said.