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