What we think of America

Like the rest of the world, there are mixed feelings in the Philippines (despite the surveys) about the United States’ war against terrorism. It would be good to reflect on what Granta, a magazine published in New York and London, said in an editorial : The September 11 attacks on the US provoked shock and pity in the rest of the world, but mingled with the sympathy was something harsher: anti-Americanism. It wasn’t confined to the West Bank or Kabul. It could be heard in English country pubs, in the bars of Paris and Rome, the tea stalls of New Delhi. "Hubris" was the general idea: in one opinion poll, two-thirds of the respondents outside the US agreed to the proposition that "it was good that Americans now know what it’s like to be vulnerable."

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The editorial introduced twenty-four essays from around the world to describe America’s part, for better or worse, in their lives and by extension "their estimate of the good and the bad it has done as the world’s supreme political, military, economic and cultural power. That, too may be behind the unease of some Filipinos with how the Arroyo government handled policy as far as this issue was concerned. In this column I take up three viewpoints which implicitly express the same ambivalence. It is my opinion that we would have done better had we taken into account the essential paradox of our cooperation with the American war against terrorism. We would have been more honest, more mature and in the end command the respect of other nations.

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A proposal to establish cooperation against terrorism. I take the occasion of US Secretary of State Colin Powell’s visit to propose that RP and the US initiate an Anti-Terrorism Cooperation Agreement between the leading ASEAN Anti-Terrorism Pact Signatories and the Shanghai Cooperation (SCO) to help stem the movement and operations of terrorists and extremist elements from Central Asia and South Asia to Southeast Asia and vice versa . . . While both the impetus and the flow of Islamist terrorism emanate from West Asia, Central Asia and South Asia, Madame President, we also need to involve both China and Russia more intimately into the global campaign against terrorism – if only to make the campaign truly more multilateral than it now seems. The full participation of Central Asian states will be helpful since they have large Muslim majorities and are geographically close to Russia, China and the Middle East, and have been susceptible to fundamentalist and Muslim extremist influence. This proposed interaction between two Asian anti-terrorism coalitions, backed by the US, should help strengthen US, Philippine and ASEAN relations with China, Russia and the Central Asian states and should be part of our long term thrust for political and economic integration in Asia. It will be seen as an endorsement of crucial US leadership in the global campaign against terrorism. .… We might ask the US for assistance when we submit specific Christian – Muslim projects in Mindanao that can serve as models in helping solve the politico-religious and communal conflicts around the world . . . Excerpted from Speaker J. de Venecia’s proposal to President Arroyo.

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We cannot defeat terrorism, but we can make it irrelevant. Specific terrorists can be killed and specific terrorist attacks can be prevented. Defeating terrorists is one thing. But defeating terrorism- defeating what the terrorists represent – is something else. In conventional war, one assumes the adversary wishes not only to win but also to stay alive – for how else can he enjoy his victory? Thus, credible threats to the enemy’s life – together with credible proof that he cannot gain his war objectives — can destroy his will to fight. But these terrorists not only lack practical objectives. They also disdain to preserve their lives because, by dying, they believe that (in the words of the Saudi Ambassador to London) : "they are opening the door to another life." We cannot defeat terrorists. But we can make it irrelevant — by soothing the frustrations that make terrorists out of otherwise ordinary people. At bottom, Islamism is a rebellion of the excluded — a rebellion that feeds on the unfulfilled longings and desires of impoverished peoples living on the margins of an unattainable consumerist world… America must lead the global community in laying down new rules of international civility — and in enforcing them….It is not enough for America to have power. American must also have wisdom. And much will depend on the willingness of ordinary Americans to bear the costs of maintaining and using their country’s power to keep the world safe, stable and free..Excerpted from Jose T. Almonte’s speech on "Enhancing Regional Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific Region" in Honolulu.

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Preemptive strikes. We all understand the pains and anguish brought about by the death and destruction of September 11. The Philippines was one of the first to support the Security Council resolutions on combating international terrorism. We understand the deep sufferings of the people in Afghanistan, the dead and the wounded, compounded by degraded poverties … President Bush has virtually abandoned the old strategies of containment and deterrence and categorically called for a new policy. He said, "For much of the last century, America’s defense relied on the cold war doctrines of deterrence and containment. In some cases, those strategies still apply. But new threats also require new thinking. Yet the war on terror will not be won on the defensive. We must take the battle to the enemy. And our security will require all Americans to be forward looking and resolute, to be ready for preemptive action when necessary to defend our liberty and to defend our lives". We are an ally of the United States in the fight against terrorists . . . We have an international criminal court of justice. Should we not leave the perpetrators of genocide, of war crimes, of crimes against humanity and aggression when finally formalized to the judgment of this court… Let us fight terror in all its ugly forms- but let us do so with reason for the good of all especially innocent civilians, women and children who get caught in the crossfire. I trust the moral legacy of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt and Kennedy will make the US fight terrorists firmly but rightly against a preemptive strike first policy that may negate the gains and goodwill already generated to friends and foes alike. Excerpted from Vice-President Teofisto Guingona’s speech before FOCAP at Mandarin.

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