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| Southeast Asia |
| JI getting back on track |
| 2003-11-25 |
| U.S. officials in Southeast Asia are bracing for new terrorist attacks as they gather fresh information about Jemaah Islamiyah, the radical Islamic organization based in Indonesia. That would fit with the other recent attacks ... Despite arrests of some of the group’s top leaders, including Riduan Isamuddin, the group remains intact and is growing in strength and numbers, U.S. and Asian officials said in interviews. The fruits of those training camps in Mindanao and Sulawesi, no doubt. Recruitment and fund-raising have been easier for the group because of widespread opposition in the region to the U.S. war in Iraq. In the last few months, men, money and arms have flowed to the group through the Philippines, a center for training and money-laundering. And also MILF HQ, despite Murad’s pious denials that they have nothing whatsoever to do with terrorism. My guess would be that they’re using the cease-fire as an excuse to rearm, as there seems to be a precedent for such things ... Isamuddin, better known as Hambali, was captured by the CIA in Thailand in August. The officials expect new attacks against Westerners, with Americans and Australians at the top of the risk list. Indonesia is the most likely place. Indonesian officials said last week that they had seized documents showing that Jemaah Islamiyah was planning attacks on Citibank branches in the country. The Philippines is also considered a prime target. Isamuddin, who was a member of Osama bin Laden’s inner circle, has told his interrogators that the Israeli Embassy and a Manila hotel were on the group’s list of targets, a Western official said. "It is not a question of if, but when and where," a senior U.S. official said. Malaysia and Thailand are considered lesser targets, but far from immune, the officials said. Mahathir seems to have shut down a lot of their infrastructure in Malaysia or his way out of power and they never really had a lot of infrastructure in Thailand to begin with by the simple problem of demographics. To counter the threat, the CIA has more agents operating clandestinely in the region than at any time since the Vietnam War. U.S. officials have extensive intelligence showing that Jemaah Islamiyah has a major training base on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao. "We don’t have a clear picture yet of the J.I. order of battle," a U.S. official said. "But with every interrogation, we learn there’s more of them than we thought." Singapore intelligence has concluded that the organization is "likely to plan more suicide bomb attacks along the lines of Bali and the recent Hotel Marriott bombing in Jakarta," Wong Kan Seng, Singapore’s security minister, said in a speech last week. Some new information came from the interrogation in Manila of Taufik Rifki, Jemaah Islamiyah’s finance and logistics officer in the Philippines. Rifki was seized last month in Mindanao. "He’s been a gold mine," a Western official said. Rifki has given his interrogators details about Jemaah Islamiyah’s structure and hierarchy in the Philippines, as well as about the Mindanao camps. Note the plural form of camps here. His capture appears to have disrupted one operation, a Western official said. But he was careful not to say it had prevented it. "It may have only been postponed a month or two," he said. Although many members of Jemaah Islamiyah trained in Al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan, Western and Asian governments increasingly consider it a separate regional operation, with its own camps, recruiting, financing and agenda: the establishment of an Islamic state across an arc of Southeast Asia. It’s a separate operation in the sense of how it’s run, but both have the same goal as far as world domination goes. Isamuddin was thought to be the vital link between Jemaah Islamiyah and Al Qaeda, and the source of money and technology. Now, officials say that the Qaeda network is more decentralized. The view of Australian intelligence agencies, which are considered to have a better understanding of Jemaah Islamiyah than their U.S. counterparts, is that the organization "has matured," an official said. "It is resilient, it is flexible," he said. "It doesn’t need Al Qaeda." But if the Zulkarnaean bio was any indication, their new supremo is one of Binny’s stormtroopers. I somehow doubt that Hanbali was the only link in the chain here, especially if Zulkarnaean starts racking up a lot of long-distance calls to Iran these days ... The Philippines has been slow to acknowledge the presence of terrorists here. When a newspaper article about Jemaah Islamiyah camps on Mindanao appeared in June, the country’s national security adviser, Roilo Golez, issued a stern denial, saying that if there had been any camps, they were shut in 2000. Officials held that stand for months, though the United States, Australia and other countries were providing the government with evidence that Jemaah Islamiyah recruits were still training here, Western officials said. This naive mindset is going to end in one of those Uruk-hai-esque black flags flying over Manila if the Filippino government doesn’t change its tone. A few days after President George W. Bush visited the Philippines last month, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo acknowledged publicly that the group was training in Mindanao. Earlier this month, Andrea Domingo, the Philippine commissioner of immigration, said that the government had evidence of 30 foreigners training in Mindanao. But last week, a Philippine military spokesman again insisted that the camps were closed three years ago. Hmm, sounds as though there’s still a lot of denial among the Filippino military. Bush and other Americans have praised the Philippine government for its cooperation against terrorism. But privately, U.S. officials have delivered stern messages to Arroyo that her government is not doing enough, Western officials said. U.S. officials have said they are disappointed and somewhat puzzled that the Philippine government has not shut the camps in Mindanao. As are we all ... |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #2 OP - I think there is some talk between the Philippines and US about having another 'joint training session'. But it is stalled in defining what role the US soldiers will take - only training the philippines or engaging in live patrols. I think the Philippine consitution forbids having foreign armed forces on the islands (or is it just permanent bases....). Personally I think they should open on with some of those bombing runs on the training camps.... a little shock and awe as it were. Then we (and the Philippine government) will be in a stronger position in any 'Peace' (read: reload) talks. Anyway here is some more detailed History of the Philippines from the Library of Congress. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-11-25 11:35:05 PM |
| #1 Perhaps it's time for a carrier task force to "request" permission from the Philippines to carry out a live-fire exercise. I'm sure we know where some of these tin turbantops hang their hammocks. A bit of "shock and awe" in the outer islands may be just what the JI needs to understand their very tenuous place in society. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-11-25 8:24:23 PM |