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| Southeast Asia |
| Wolfowitz: Terrorists Will Target Asia |
| 2002-06-02 |
| Islamic terrorists "have Asia in their sights," the Pentagon's No. 2 official told defense ministers from the region Saturday in an effort to rally support for the U.S.-led war on terrorism. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told a regional security conference that Asia must take seriously the threat of Muslim militants who, he said, want to impose "a medieval, intolerant and tyrannical way of life." The Bush administration is concerned that Asian countries might perceive the threat as remote and become complacent. "While New York and Washington may be thousands of miles away, the terrorists have Asia in their sights as well," Wolfowitz said. Touching on the Sept. 11 attacks in Washington and New York, Wolfowitz said, "It would be a mistake to think that we have seen either the last or the worst of such attacks. It would be a mistake to think that, in the future, they will strike only in the United States." They'll strike wherever they see an opportunity. If there aren't any opportunities, they'll work on building them. The only way to deal with the terror networks is to build a detailed order of battle — an organization chart — and then to kill every person on the chart. But it has to include the money men and the ideologues, and they are the ones who have to go first. The desire to target Asia is particularly sad, because a mere 25 years ago all of them with the exception of Japan were poor. Since the formation of ASEAN and the advent of globalization, there's been one economic "miracle" after another. Those "miracles" — Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, and now Thailand — are as great a threat to Islamism as the U.S.A. or Israel or Europe. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |