‘Terror groups’ capabilities underestimated’

CEBU — Governments confronting terrorism could be dangerously underestimating the capabilities of terror groups and their linkages with each other under al-Qaeda despite the rude awakening the world got on Sept. 11, 2001, an international forum on counterterrorism was told on Saturday.

Veteran international journalist Maria Ressa told security experts and diplomats from over 50 countries participating in the first Philippine Counter-Terrorism Experts Conference (CTEC) here that the press plays a crucial role in fighting terror, preventing conflicts and promoting understanding among peoples and nations.

Ressa, former Jakarta and Manila bureau chief of CNN and author of "Seeds of Terror," also sought to debunk some myths that contribute to governments’ tendency to underestimate and turn a blind eye on threats posed by terror groups.

Ressa, who now heads ABS-CBN’s News and Current Affairs, said many governments, including that of the United States and those in Southeast Asia, such as the Philippines, appear to remain in denial as to the extent of the threat posed by militant groups operating in many countries.

"The trend is that denial lasts until a major attack-in the United States, in Indonesia, in the Philippines," Ressa said, adding the Philippine government for a time had a policy of denial on the existence of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) training camps in Mindanao and its links with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front because it was trying to negotiate peace with the MILF.

"But the costs are high for denial — it misleads the people and leaves Muslims vulnerable to radical ideology. This is part of the reason why many Muslims still believe Osama bin Laden is a hero," she said.

Apart from denial, Ressa said, there is also a tendency for "misrepresentation" among governments on the true picture of the respective terror threats they are facing largely because of vested interests.

She cited the case of Philippine security officials previously withholding information about JI training camps in Mindanao from the US while Muslims in Indonesia are still asking about the weapons of mass destruction still being sought in Iraq.

"You get the idea: everyone wants to use and interpret the information they get based on their vested interests and that often clouds the judgment of the information," Ressa said.

There is also a trend among governments to think that their domestic insurgent problems are purely internal and links with the al-Qaeda and JI are not clearly established, she said.

She said even the Asean institutionalized such thinking by coming up with the so-called "constructive engagement" in dealing with internal problems.

"All conflicts are local and can be dealt with domestically. Wrong. Because what we’re seeing is that when you’re talking about conflicts involving Muslim issues, there are no local conflicts," Ressa said.

"That is part of the reason the United States is paying little attention to the upsurge of sectarian violence in Southeast Asia, failing to see the link between these local conflicts and the global jihad," she said.

Ressa said the militant violence in Southeast Asia, such as in the Malukus and Sulawesi in Indonesia, southern Philippines, and southern Thailand are all "cause of alarm."

"But it’s not the US turning a blind eye. Many of their own governments refuse to see the interconnections because admitting those links mean redefining their worlds and searching for a different strategy," she said.

Another myth, Ressa said, is that military victory need not take into account culture and language as the latter are now weapons in an ideological campaign.

The most important myth that should be debunked, she said, is that the United States is the "hero" leading the fight against terror despite Bin Laden’s attempts to portray terror as a war between Islam and the West.

"Because the frontline in this war is within the Muslim world. It is not a fight between Islam and America but a battle for the soul of Islam: between a radical minority and a moderate majority," Ressa said.

"At the core of the military war is an ideological battle. That is why language, culture and religion play such a crucial role in convincing Muslims around the world to take sides in defining Islam’s future," she said.