Rumsfeld fears terrorist attacks in SE Asia waters
Rumsfeld fears terrorist attacks in SE Asia waters
Agence France-Presse, Singapore
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Friday he hoped U.S. forces would be hunting terrorists in Southeast Asia "pretty soon," warning that Islamic extremists are targeting moderate Muslim states the world over.
Rumsfeld made the remarks as he visited marines and sailors aboard the helicopter carrier USS Essex against a backdrop of oil tankers and freighters that ply the Strait of Malacca, gateway for a third of the world's trade.
"When are we going to start hunting some terrorists in this theater?" a marine asked Rumsfeld.
"Well, I would hope pretty soon," the secretary replied.
"We simply cannot wait for another attack and expect to defend against it. We have to go out and find those terrorist networks and the people financing them, and countries providing a safe haven for them.
"It is a tough thing to do."
Rumsfeld offered no details but the comment comes amid U.S. and Singaporean efforts to improve maritime security in the strait, mainly through better intelligence sharing.
Rumsfeld, who arrived here on Thursday for only his second visit to east Asia as defense secretary, is scheduled to address an international security conference here on Saturday.
He is also due to meet with counterparts from countries around the region, including South Korea, Japan and Australia, on the sidelines of the Asia Security Conference, which begins on Friday evening.
Among the issues likely to be raised besides terrorism are U.S. plans for a global repositioning of U.S. forces.
About half the world's oil supplies move through the narrow channel on the way to markets in Japan, China and South Korea, making it a tempting target for Islamic militants seeking to destabilize the industrialized world.
Singapore has consistently led warnings that the Malacca and Singapore straits are extremely vulnerable to terrorist attacks.
Increasing piracy in Southeast Asian waters, the disappearances of tugboats and last year's kidnapping of a commercial ship's captain have fueled fears terrorists may be planning to hijack vessels for a maritime version of September 11.
But the initiative to increase security aroused controversy after the commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, Admiral Thomas Fargo, suggested in April that one option under consideration was putting marines and special operations forces aboard high speed vessels in the strait.
Malaysia, which with Indonesia and Singapore straddle the Malacca Strait, has sharply opposed the use of outside forces.
Rumsfeld has sought to steer clear of the controversy, telling reporters on the flight here from Washington that Fargo's testimony to Congress had been "misreported."
"We're in the process of trying to unravel all of that. It is in its early stages. They are in a consultation mode. They will be discussing it with various countries in the region," he said of regional maritime security plans.
Aboard the Essex, Rumsfeld emphasized intelligence sharing as crucial to defeating the maritime threat.
"I think the fact that there's not a lot of publicity about what's happening out here may be kind of misleading," he said.
"Because there is pressure being put on terrorists in this part of the world every day by the close cooperation we have, for example with our wonderful friends here in Singapore."
Rumsfeld said Islamic radicals were bent on undermining moderate Islamic states.
"A small minority are attempting to hijack that religion away from the overwhelming majority of moderate Muslims and in the process drive the West and progress out of those countries and out of their lives," he said.
"They are not going to succeed."
At another point Rumsfeld said: "They hope and they are making efforts to destabilize the moderate Muslim countries everywhere across the globe."