July 19, 2007, Cebu Daily News, Opinion, Ouano intramurals, by Malou Guanzon-Apalisok,

July 19, 2007, Cebu Daily News, Opinion, Ouano intramurals, by Malou Guanzon-Apalisok, 

CEBU, Philippines—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s 7th state of the nation address on Monday before a joint session of Congress is expected to issue a presidential call to arms for what happened to 14 Marine soldiers in Tipo-Tipo, Basilan last July 10. Perpetrators of the grisly murder are believed to be members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), who didn’t stop at killing the Marines but mutilated their bodies to show their utter contempt for the military and the government.

From media reportage about the incident, the Marines were searching for kidnapped Italian priest Gianciarlo Bossi. Against the advice of local government leaders, military soldiers stepped into combat zone, reportedly under the heavy influence of MILF and ASG.

Like in the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York six years ago, the leader of the country bears the heaviest pressure in dealing with such gruesome incidents. The Sept. 11 jet hijackings left more than 6,000 dead or missing at New York’s World Trade Center, the Pentagon and in rural Pennsylvania. Back then, President George W. Bush was being aggravated to launch a Gulf War-style posse against Osama bin Laden, whose whereabouts are as fabled as his ability to conduct terror attacks through his vast terrorist network operating in Western China, Algeria and the Philippines.

But despite the huge resources of the United States, it opted to come up with a layered response because of the risks that accompanied the launching of an all-out war against the enemy. Despite the sentiment of a large segment of the US population at that time, the stance was easier said than done. Indeed, the US government had the dossier against the prime suspect in the attacks, but Bin Laden was no ordinary enemy. He was the symbol of radical Islamic states, a moving target in the rugged mountains of Afghanistan.

The "Powell Doctrine," the theory that wars are best won by deploying "overwhelming force," was also rejected “for the simple reason that the enemy has hardly any visible military assets or civilian economic infrastructure, and may not even be ultimately dependent on his current territorial home base. And applying such force in territories where he has sought support or shelter could open up a protracted and costly conflict with forces currently on the sidelines,” media reported in the wake of the attacks.

In layman’s parlance, innocent lives could be endangered, which could fuel a huge backlash among conservative Arab countries friendly with the US. The position of Islamic clerics in Afghanistan was also problematic for they were not keen to hand over the Al-Qaeda chief to the US. In the end, it opted to launch “sustained land combat” that eventually allowed North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces to pounce hard on Bin Laden and the Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan.

If the Philippine government is still viewing the secessionist movement in Mindanao within the framework of political struggle, then we can say the Basilan attack was a disaster waiting to happen. Observers in the decades old secessionist movement in Mindanao believe the dissidents have turned to Al-Qaida connections for direction and funding. Which means the struggle has long modified from political to religious, which is Bin Ladin’s guiding principle -- a global 'jihad' against the U.S. because of its support for Israel and for moderate Arab regimes. In the Philippines, the assault against a Catholic missionary says it all.

The alleged killing of an imam or religious leader as the cause of the Basilan attack is an indication that the MILF and their ASG cohorts have taken the jihad against the Philippine military to heart. In which case, it will be all the more complicated for the Arroyo administration to come up with a clear response to the terrorist attacks.