June 1st 2002
By Jake Lloyd-Smith
Bush's Asia policy expert likens war on terrorism to Churchill's early struggle to combat rise of Nazi Germany
The US Deputy Defence Secretary yesterday drew a parallel between Winston Churchill's early struggle against Nazi Germany and Washington's anti-terror campaign as he sought to bolster support for Washington's cause.
Speaking in Singapore ahead of an unprecedented gathering of the region's defence ministers, Paul Wolfowitz cranked up the administration's rhetoric in a clear sign that Washington intends to intensify its efforts to combat terrorist threats. Mr Wolfowitz said he would also use the three-day event to advance his bid to re-establish US military ties with Indonesia, which were suspended by Congress after gross human rights abuses by Jakarta's forces in East Timor.
The hawkish Deputy Secretary, a former US envoy to Indonesia, is regarded as the most influential regional expert in the Bush administration, and has a major impact on US strategy in Asia. "This gathering storm' - if I could borrow words from Churchill - that is the terrorist threat is something that threatens the whole world," he said.
"It is true that the attacks of September 11 were on my country. Some people here may feel that is thousands of miles away. But the terrorist threat is here as well," he added.
Churchill, Britain's wartime prime minister, repeatedly warned during the 1930s about the military threat posed by the rise of Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime. He later recounted these frustrating experiences in the first volume of his official memoirs, entitled The Gathering Storm.
Mr Wolfowitz's rhetoric comes just days after President George W. Bush tried to link the US-led war on terror to the role played by Allied forces in World War II. Speaking at a Memorial Day event in France overlooking Omaha Beach - where thousands of Allied troops perished in the D-Day landings - Mr Bush honoured those who fought Hitler and those "defending the world from terrorists at this very hour".
This weekend's gathering - dubbed the Shangri-La Dialogue after the hotel venue - brings together defence ministers from across Asia, together with their counterparts from the US, Russia, Australia and Britain and is sponsored by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies. Organisers said they hoped the meeting would become a key annual addition to the institutional dialogue on Asian security issues. Participants will discuss domestic and international terrorist threats, China's military doctrine and its relations with Taiwan.
The event was mooted before September 11 but acquired extra significance in the wake of the attacks, an institute official said. It is meant to complement the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' Regional Forum, an annual meeting of the region's foreign ministers.
Mr Wolfowitz said the administration wanted to "build new multilateral modes of co-operation in Asia , and this conference is one of them". He added: "Security in this part of the world is critical to my country, critical to the whole world." The full sessions begin today after an inaugural address last night by Singapore Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew. In addition to the main meetings, most ministers will be holding bilateral talks on the sidelines. Among such two-way meetings, Mr Wolfowitz will meet Matori Abdul Djalil, Indonesia's Defence Minister.
Amid ongoing tensions in South Asia over the disputed state of Kashmir, India's Defence Minister George Fernandes will attend the gathering. His Pakistani counterpart, however, was not invited, as the country was not deemed by participants to be part of the Asia-Pacific region.
Mr Wolfowitz repeated US warnings about the danger of war between New Delhi and Islamabad, saying that a full-scale conflict would wreak "untold damage" on the region. 
