Al-Qaeda in the East

Al-Qaeda in the East

The fight against al-Qaeda terrorists has spread to Southeast Asia. The arrest of a large cell in Singapore has revealed the outlines of a network stretching through Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia, along with detailed plans for the mass murder of Americans. Officials say hundreds of foreigners may have visited a Qaeda training camp in the Indonesian jungles last year. Al-Qaeda and its allies seem to retain breathing space in this region that no longer exists in Afghanistan or Pakistan.

Some Indonesian militant leaders believed to be connected to Osama bin Laden are still operating openly. Although most of the governments in the region are friendly to the United States, it is not clear that the Bush administration has yet found the means to adequately answer the threat.

A contingent of some 600 U.S. special forces trainers and support troops has begun arriving in the Philippines to help Manila's army wipe out a small Muslim insurgent organization.

A more menacing threat seems to be emerging in a network known as Jammaa Islamia, a Qaeda branch that authorities say has cells in the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. Two Indonesian militant groups, Laskar Jihad and Laskar Mujahidin, may also have ties to al-Qaeda, and one may have cooperated in the operation of a Qaeda camp.

But the Bush team appears unsure how to handle Indonesia, where a fragile democratic government has been reluctant to move against the Muslim militants for fear of provoking a domestic backlash. While the State Department recently backed continuation of congressional restrictions on aid to the Indonesian military, the Pentagon separately sought and won an appropriation for a new counterterrorism training program including Indonesia.

Such mixed signals are no longer affordable; the Bush administration needs a strategy and a message for Southeast Asia. That strategy must support the preservation of democratic governments in the Philippines and Indonesia, reform of the Indonesian military and greater respect for human rights in Malaysia and Singapore. But it must also insist on action against al-Qaeda networks and the indigenous Muslim movements that may be supporting them, and be willing to provide support for specific military operations. These networks are aggressively plotting to kill Americans. No less than in Afghanistan, the U.S. must act urgently in its own defense.

-- The Washington Post