U.S. military action in SE Asia unlikely: Envoy
U.S. military action in SE Asia unlikely: Envoy
Regan Morris, Associated Press, Singapore
United States military action in Southeast Asia - a region officials say has links to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda terrorist network - is unlikely, the U.S. ambassador to Singapore said on Thursday.
Ambassador Frank Lavin told The Associated Press that any U.S. action in Southeast Asia to curtail terrorism would likely involve moves such as coordinating to fight money laundering, not direct military strikes.
U.S. officials in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Wednesday that the Al-Qaeda network has been bolstering Islamic insurgencies in Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia, and that Southeast Asia has become a major operational hub for the terrorist network.
Lavin said the United States would work with governments in Southeast Asia if any anti-terrorist action was needed in the region.
Most countries in Southeast Asia have condemned the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States, when hijackers crashed four passenger planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon rural Pennsylvania.
But some people in the region have staged anti-American protests since the Sept. 11 attacks, with many saying the United States unfairly blamed Muslims for the attacks.
Thousands of people across Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, have staged rowdy protests, burning U.S. flags and effigies of U.S. president George W. Bush amid calls for a holy war on the United States.
Ambassador Lavin said the demonstrations and political instability would stymie U.S. investment flows into the region.
"The political turmoil undercuts investment. It diminishes investors' appetite and increases the perception of risk," he said.
Lavin said the political turbulence, coupled with the current downturns in the U.S. and Southeast Asian economies, does not augur well for the region.
Singapore - widely viewed as Southeast Asia's most developed and stable country - is trying to weather its recession by promoting itself as "the best shop in the commercial district," Lavin said.
He added, however, that Southeast Asian economies are intertwined and that Singapore has little to gain from instability in neighboring countries.
"If you're the best shop only because the other shops are closed down, then that doesn't really help you," he said.
More stability would help everyone in the region, Lavin said, adding that U.S. businesses were committed to Southeast Asia.