June 13th 2002
Many Asia-Pacific countries see the war on terrorism as only one among several key security issues
By Barry Wain
The United States used a landmark meeting of Asia Pacific defence ministers to try to shore up support for its global war on terrorism. But large sections of the region, while generally sympathetic and supportive, warned that they don't share the U.S.'s single-minded pursuit of the struggle, or some of its methods.
U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz arrived at the May 31-2 June Asia Security Conference in Singapore with several related objectives: To persuade regional countries that the counter-terrorism campaign will be long and hard and should have the highest priority, that Asians are threatened as much as Americans and that more needs to be done to curb terrorism in Southeast Asia.
"If we don't take this war seriously," he told the Review, "this gathering storm of evil and terrorism is going to end up sweeping us into something quite terrible."
The American message to the meeting was that the September 11 terrorist attacks on U.S. soil changed the world. But the response from the region seemed to be that it is only a traumatized U.S. that has changed. As Malaysian strategic analyst Noordin Sopiee remarks, "For most people, the world is exactly the same."
It would be wrong to suggest that the U.S. was cold-shouldered or directly rebuffed. Singapore again warned that the Al Qaeda terrorist network is franchising operations across Southeast Asia. Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew also lent critical support to U.S. President George W Bush's attempts to overcome congressional objections and re-engage the discredited Indonesian military.
But many delegates-including American, Japanese and British legislators, European defence officials and independent security experts, plus defence ministers or their representatives from 22 nations-saw terrorism as just one among several key security issues in the region. Indonesian Defence Minister Matori Abdul Djalil put it bluntly. "Combating terrorism constitutes only one priority" when Jakarta is trying to democratize, repair the economy and prevent the sprawling country from fragmenting.
Matori and others also emphasized the need to address the underlying causes of terrorism, employing a "comprehensive" approach that doesn't rely excessively on security measures. Malaysian Defence Minister Najib Abdul Razak called on the U.S. to join a simultaneous global war against injustice, poverty and underdevelopment.
Outside the conference, some of Wolfowitz's proposals for dealing with terrorism were derided. His suggestion that the West encourage "moderate Muslim voices" would create problems for them as they are already accused by radical Muslims of being tools of the West, according to Rizal Sukma of Indonesia's Centre for Strategic and International Studies. "The best thing the U.S. can do is stay away," he says.
Like the Brussels-based International Crisis Group and other non- governmental organizations in Indonesia, Rizal criticizes the Bush administration for moving to resume contacts with the Indonesian military before a mechanism is in place to prevent future military abuses. U.S. concern seems to be focused on the need to deal with growing Islamic militancy, he says, while "our concern is much broader."
A NASCENT INSTITUTION
Plans are afoot for a second conference in Singapore next year, again organized by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies. John Chipman, director of IISS, called the forum "a nascent institution disguised as a conference." The Asia Security Conference is likely to exist alongside the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' 23-member Asean Regional Forum, in which foreign ministers exchange views on security.
Although Japanese Defence Minister Gen Nakatani suggested the concept be extended to a formal Asia-Pacific Defence Ministerial Meeting," that is unlikely. The record shows that many governments would be reluctant to let their defence ministers take part in a forum without outside participation, delegates said. Indeed, the absence of pressure to produce an agreement or communique made the session particularly valuable, they said.
The 11 defence ministers and other heads of delegations did get together alone, however, for a lunch given by Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Tony Tan.
