Australia's 'gun boat diplomacy'<\/p>\n
Amando Doronila, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Asia News Network,
\nManila<\/p>\n
In reaction to the car bombing of the Australian embassy in
\nJakarta two weeks ago, Australia's Prime Minister John Howard
\nthreatened to deploy Australian anti-terror \"flying squads\" to
\ncarry out preemptive strikes on terrorist groups in Southeast
\nAsia to protect Australian lives and establishments in the
\nregion.<\/p>\n
Howard's proposal has kicked up a fresh round of irritation in
\nAustralia's relations with its Southeast Asian neighbors already
\nfrayed by Canberra's insolent and patronizing statements over
\ntheir capacity to curb terrorist activities and their commitment
\nto the U.S.-led coalition in the war on international terrorism.
\nMalaysia and the Philippines, the countries likely to be asked to
\nhost the Australian \"flying squads,\" promptly rejected Howard's
\nplan.<\/p>\n
The proposal has rankled Southeast Asian sensitivity over
\ntheir national sovereignty. Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Najib
\nTun Razak said, \"We won't allow any preemptive strike when it
\ncomes to our national territory.\"<\/p>\n
The Philippine government rebuffed Howard's project, in the
\nwake of Malaysia's rejection. \"Any intrusion of flying squads
\ninto Philippine territory is out of the question,\" said a
\nstatement from Manila. Indonesia, where two terrorist attacks
\nhave been made in two years on Australians-one in Bali and the
\nother on the Australian Embassy-has not reacted as it awaits the
\nassumption of the presidency of General Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is no less prickly over its sovereignty and meddling
\nin its internal affairs than the Philippines and Malaysia. It is
\ntherefore unlikely that Jakarta would welcome the presence of
\nforeign troops -- no matter if they are disguised as \"flying
\nsquads\" -- to ensure the security and safety of foreign interests
\nin Indonesia. This is not to say that the safety and security of
\nforeigners in another country are unimportant. National
\nsovereignty and pride dictate that such security measures be left
\nin the hands of local authorities. To send flying squads into
\ntheir territories is offensive to their pride and reveals the
\ninsensitivity of Australia to Asians' sense of nationalism.<\/p>\n
The image conjured up in Southeast Asia by the Howard threat
\nis that it is a pale imitation of U.S. President George W. Bush's
\npreemptive policy on terrorism exemplified by the U.S.-led
\ninvasion of Iraq. The plan reminds Asians -- not only Filipinos,
\nIndonesians and Malaysians but also Chinese -- of American gun
\nboat diplomacy being resuscitated by Australia.<\/p>\n
Through its steadfast commitment to Bush's \"coalition of the
\nwilling\" on Iraq and through its deployment of 800 troops in the
\noccupation of Iraq, Australia has etched a strong perception in
\nSoutheast Asia that it is playing the role of regional sheriff in
\nthe counter-terrorism war in the Asia Pacific as a surrogate of
\nthe global gendarme -- the United States -- whose preemptive
\nstrike policy is failing as an effective instrument to fight
\nterrorism, in the light of the escalating attacks by Iraqi
\nmilitants on U.S. troops in Iraq and the execution and hostage-
\ntaking of individuals associated with American interests.<\/p>\n
Howard's plan rubs salt on still fresh wounds in the
\nPhilippines which, only recently was condemned by the Howard
\ngovernment of being a \"marshmallow\" after the Philippine
\ngovernment bowed to Iraqi militants' demand to withdraw the tiny
\nPhilippine contingent in Iraq in exchange for the life of a
\nFilipino truck driver they had taken hostage.<\/p>\n
Even in Australia itself, the Howard project has come under
\nfire from the opposition Labor Party as the general elections
\nnear. It has driven a cleavage between Howard and Foreign
\nMinister Alexander Downer. Howard's stance has made more
\ndifficult Downer's job of patching up recent irritants between
\nAustralia and key countries in Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n
The bombing of the Australian Embassy handed Howard an
\nopportunity to project a tough antiterrorist stance, and
\nhighlight security from direct terrorist attack as an electoral
\nissue. But Labor Party leader Mark Latham said that the
\npreemption stance was \"a foolhardy and dangerous foreign policy\"
\nand Labor's shadow defense policy spokesperson, Kim Beazly, has
\nbranded the Howard plan as damaging to closer cooperation between
\nCanberra and Southeast Asian governments in efforts to combat
\nregional terrorist groups. Latham seized on the Howard-Downer
\ndifferences saying Downer had junked Howard's \"dangerous\" policy
\nof preemptive strikes.<\/p>\n
The rift emerged after Howard, when asked, if preemptive
\nstrikes included countries of Southeast Asia, said: \"Of course,
\nit does.\" Contradicting this, Downer said he had previously told
\nAsian neighbors that Australia would not deploy troops on their
\nsoil and that the government's statements were purely
\n\"hypothetical.\" Downer added that preemption would not be needed
\nin Southeast Asia, as governments there \"would be able to thwart
\nterrorist attacks.\"<\/p>\n
In other interviews, some government ministers said preemption
\ndid not foreshadow strikes on suspected Jamaah Islamiyah (JI)
\nterrorist training camps in Mindanao. Howard and Downer have said
\nJI camps would not be attacked because there was no evidence it
\nwould attack Australia directly. Any deployment of Australian
\nteams would require negotiations with host countries on the modus
\nof their operation and cooperation with local authorities.<\/p>\n
Any Australian deployment in Mindanao would be superfluous and
\nwould run into complications with the anti-terror operations
\nalready under way. Joint military exercises are taking place
\nbetween Philippine and American troops in connection with their
\njoint campaign against the Abu Sayyaf, the terrorist group linked
\nto the international terrorist network al-Qaeda.<\/p>",
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