Terrorists at our doorstep
The Abu Sayyaf bandit group has claimed responsibility for 3 Valentine's Day bombing incidents in the Philippines. They set off bombs in a bus, a bus terminal and a shopping mall.
In their statement, they vowed to continue their strikes, while making no distinctions between civilians and soldiers. They claim that civilians choose their own government; thus, if their government "oppresses Muslims", then the civilians are equally guilty of oppression and are fair game for the Abu Sayyaf brand's of punishment.
I find this logic untenable, leading me to believe that the Abu Sayyaf are either cowardly or stupid. For one thing, the rest of Muslim Mindanao are participating in the support of the Philippine government by voting, paying taxes, and using public services. Does that mean that the Abu Sayyaf will also bomb its own Muslim brothers -- the very people they claim to defend?
From another angle, assuming that the people also detest the current administration (the way the Abu Sayyaf does), why do they deserve to die? Many citizens in Manila, Davao and General Santos Cities have no love lost for President Gloria Arroyo. Yet they are lumped together and exposed to the same dangers as the "oppressors" the Abu Sayyaf seek to punish.
If the agenda was to destabilize, then doing so by public bombing shows the Abu Sayyaf's self-centeredness and wanton disregard for human life. They are better off doing assassination of the military and government leaders they despise. They may even get some public sympathy for their cause.
If the agenda was to divert attention and resources from the war in Jolo, that was a miscalculation. More than ever, the Arroyo government will throw in more resources in an effort to quickly douse the fire.
If the intention was to provoke the government to implement more stringent measures and thus make more mistakes against the Muslim population, then it shows the Abu Sayyaf's bloodthirsty nature that they would offer more lives of their brethren, just to promote their "cause."
No doubt, the Abu Sayyaf are a spent force pretending to have ideological grounding but in reality are mere bandits seeking international recognition, power and money at any cost. The sooner they are hunted down and destroyed like the vermin that they really are, the better for both Muslims and Christian Filipinos.
posted by Unknown @ 4:47 PM
1 Comments:
I agree. Resorting to terrorism and then justifying it as a service to their fellow men shows their complete disregard for life, including the ones that they claim will benefit from what their doing.
They should realize that there is no way a nation will EVER give in to such barbarity. The more violent they become, the more people will retaliate. It will take a long time, but they'll be hunted down like dogs until every drop of blood they've shed has been repaid.
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