The public confusion over all those 'intelligence reports'<\/p>\n
Conrado de Quiros, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Asia News Network, Manila<\/p>\n
An intelligence report says that al-Qaeda, with the aid of the
\nJamaah Islamiyah, is set to sow terror in Southeast Asia. Their
\nnext targets are Taiwan and Cambodia, and Vietnam, and soon to
\nfollow are Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore. They will be doing
\nthis as part of the first anniversary of 9\/11. The region would
\ndo well to prepare for this new wave of terror.<\/p>\n
That is all very nice, except for one thing: Why?<\/p>\n
Why would al-Qaeda or the Jamaah Islamiyah or both want to
\ntarget the countries of Southeast Asia? Why in particular would
\nthey want to bomb those countries that are predominantly Muslim?
\nAnd why would they want to do that as part of the logic of 9\/11?<\/p>\n
It's these kinds of reports we're being fed daily, and for
\nsome strange reason we keep biting into them hook, line and
\nsinker. For some strange reason, we keep describing them as the
\nproduct of "intelligence" without meaning that as sarcasm.<\/p>\n
Those reports clearly are meant to suggest that, like
\ncommunism during the days of the Cold War, terrorism has become
\nmonolithic, unpredictable and driven to conquer the world. Which
\nis meant to suggest further that we would be right to support,
\namong others, a U.S. strike against Iraq, as Gloria Macapagal-
\nArroyo and her boys in the National Security Council want,
\nbecause terrorism is just one humongous whole.<\/p>\n
That was Arroyo's theme in the Asia-Pacific Economic
\nCooperation forum (APEC). The whole world, she said, was in
\nflames, lit up by terrorists who had banded together in an unholy
\nalliance. It was time APEC rallied behind the United States and
\nfought back. If she got anyone to listen, only she knew.<\/p>\n
All evidence point to the contrary.<\/p>\n
So far, what have we got by way of acts of terrorism? We've
\nhad 9\/11, we've had the bombing at Bali, we've had the hostage
\ncrisis in Moscow and we've had the bombings in various parts of
\nthe Philippines. All of which suggest that far from being
\nmonolithic, unpredictable and driven to conquer the world,
\nterrorism is fragmented, predictable and driven by desperation.<\/p>\n
The attack in New York was done by al-Qaeda, or so we assume
\nit to be, though that has never really been proven. What went by
\nway of proof was Osama bin Laden taking the report of 9\/11
\ngleefully. You wonder how George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld would
\nreact in private to news of the destruction of an entire section
\nof Iran, Iraq, or North Korea. Is that proof they did it?<\/p>\n
We do not know who bombed Bali. We do know however that it was
\nan attack against foreigners, particularly Westerners, and not
\nagainst Indonesians. That may affect Indonesia in terms of
\ntourism income, but why should its leaders now start fearing that
\ntheir country is an object of hate by "international terrorists"?
\nWhy should the leaders of Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the
\nIndochinese countries do so?<\/p>\n
The hostage-taking in Moscow on the other hand was done by
\nChechen rebels, who had been waging a war of attrition against
\nVladimir Putin's government for some time now. To now see them as
\nhaving teamed up with al-Qaeda for the purpose of world
\ndomination is to fly in the face of reason. In each of these, you
\nhave a different hand (hence, the fragmentation), you have a
\ndifferent reason (hence, the predictability), and you have a
\ngroup of people resorting to violence from a sense of being
\naggrieved. The last does not justify the methods, but it makes
\nthe motives intelligible.<\/p>\n
There is a more patent act of terrorism that's been taking
\nplace right before our eyes, but for even stranger reasons, we
\nare not condemning it as terrorism or seeing its perpetrators as
\npart of an international conspiracy.<\/p>\n
That is the systematic destruction of Ramallah by Ariel
\nSharon, or indeed, his systematic destruction of the Palestinian
\nstate by laying siege to its duly constituted leader. Sharon now
\nconstitutes the biggest threat to peace in the Middle East--he
\nhas defied several UN resolutions to cease and desist--but unlike
\nSaddam Hussein, is not only not being ostracized but continues to
\nenjoy U.S. support.<\/p>\n
The case of the Philippines finally is explainable in equally
\nrational terms. Maybe some of the bombings were done by
\nterrorists. But if so, then we must ask ourselves, if the
\nterrorists are local, why they continue to pose a threat to
\nsociety despite Balikatan, and if they are foreign, why they are
\ntargeting this country rather than others.<\/p>\n
The Bali bombings, to repeat, were not aimed at locals, ours
\nare. At the very least, that must make us wonder if Arroyo is
\nright to put this country in harm's way by her war rhetoric. At
\nthe very most, we must wonder about the plight of our OFWs in the
\nMiddle East, who are made very vulnerable by that same war
\nrhetoric.<\/p>\n
But more than that, the other bombings are not being done by
\nterrorists but by common criminals. The alarming thing in this
\ncountry in fact, as shown by mayors, ex and current, being gunned
\ndown one after the other, on top of kidnapping, robbery,
\nextortion, rape and murder, all in broad daylight, is not
\nterrorism but crime.<\/p>\n
There is a monumental danger, which media themselves should be
\nfaulted with, in lumping the two together. It puts crime beyond
\nthe pale of explanation or solution. The equation is that since
\nthe mayhem is being wreaked by a nameless, faceless, shapeless
\nmass, the government has every reason to feel powerless before
\nit.<\/p>\n
The government has every reason to not be able to do anything
\nabout it. It is a ready-made excuse for failure. No, more than
\nthat, it is a ready-made excuse to reward failure. To now curb
\ncrime, which has been promoted to terrorism, the authorities need
\nmore budget allocations, more powers and more fascistic methods.
\nThat is the real terror.<\/p>\n
Next time you hear another intelligence report, ask yourself
\nwhose intelligence is being questioned.<\/p>",
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