Is the Philippines really caving in to terrorism?
One Filipino's point of view
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
I've recently filed comments on a Blog regarding the issue of the Philippines pulling out of Iraq. It's intriguing that some people in the international community has interpreted our government's decision as "cowardice" or "caving-in" and yet many of my countrymen seem to share the opinion that it was the right thing to do. As the U.S. has pulled out of Iraq, there does not seem to be a reason why its ally should stay there.
What is disconcerting to me though is the fact that most of the other comments concentrated on the fact that the Philippines was acting "cowardly" and yet they neglected to discuss the situation of the hostages. Some of them have even commented that we have sealed our own doom by capitulating to "bullies" and some even implying that we were acting in our own self-interest. They seem to have forgotten that the Philippines, a third world country, was one of the very few nations who first heeded the call of the U.S. to wage a war against terrorism. A country with insufficient military personnel, outdated weaponry, and a weak economy. Yet despite that and amidst international furor over the Iraq issue, the Philippines held steadfast with its aly, pledging the very lives of its sons and daughters.
Now the U.S. has ceded control of Iraq over to the Iraqi people, and are slowly pulling out their military. It seems to send a message that the war on terrorism is over. What salient reason is there for the Philippines to remain in a country abandoned by its ally?
Most commentors have given dire predictions that "caving in" to the demands of the terrorists will only embolden the domestic insurgents here. I hope that is not the case. Trying to find a peaceful means to deal with the fundamentaists is a priority of our government. We are slowly realizing, after years of guerilla warfare that using all out military force will never solve the problem. Unless we degrade ourselves to the level of Saddam Hussein and do some ethnic cleansing of our own, waging war on our own people will never truly solve the solution. It will only serve to widen the religious and cultural divide.
I see no end to this war on terrorism and our future seems to be bleak. There are many who scoff at my martyr and seemingly foolish discourse on education and cultural tolerance.
I once shared the opinion of those who believe we should retaliate against terrorists, that we should take positive action against those who threated our security. I too reacted with anger towards those of the moslem faith, thinking them all alike. Condemning all of them as a whole for passively taking part and seemingly supporting the actions of a a few fundamentalists. But then I slowly began to realize that I knew absolutely nothing about those I was growing to hate, and that I had absolutely no idea about the Moslem religion beyond the fact that it preached: "death to infidels = paradise". Bewildered by the realization that I was growing to hate an enemy I knew absolutely nothing about, I began to read about the moslem faith. Was intrigued to learn that ironically, islam means peace. Learned about sufism, a brach of Islam that actually preached peace to all things. Learned how absolutely passionate the moslem people are about their fatih, their love of God.
I am of the opinion that fundamentalists and fanatics are bred and brainwashed to be the perfect assassins. They were deliberately kept ignorant and indoctrinated, their passion and love for God warped that they may willingly kill and sacrifice their lives for their "faith" How do u deal with a problem like this? By bombing them? They cleverly hide amidst the civilian populace so do we then bomb all of them including innocent civilians? Did that solve the problem? No, it merely added fuel to their resolve and belief that we were the Godless heathens.
The only way to fight ignorance is through education. It is a slow and gradual solution though which might take decades if not hundreds of years. It is ignorance that breeds war. So I began to educate myself about other religions and began to appreciate the richness of our cultural diversity. A beautiful tapestry is composed of many colored threads woven together to create a pattern. I hope someday we might all realize that.
What is disconcerting to me though is the fact that most of the other comments concentrated on the fact that the Philippines was acting "cowardly" and yet they neglected to discuss the situation of the hostages. Some of them have even commented that we have sealed our own doom by capitulating to "bullies" and some even implying that we were acting in our own self-interest. They seem to have forgotten that the Philippines, a third world country, was one of the very few nations who first heeded the call of the U.S. to wage a war against terrorism. A country with insufficient military personnel, outdated weaponry, and a weak economy. Yet despite that and amidst international furor over the Iraq issue, the Philippines held steadfast with its aly, pledging the very lives of its sons and daughters.
Now the U.S. has ceded control of Iraq over to the Iraqi people, and are slowly pulling out their military. It seems to send a message that the war on terrorism is over. What salient reason is there for the Philippines to remain in a country abandoned by its ally?
Most commentors have given dire predictions that "caving in" to the demands of the terrorists will only embolden the domestic insurgents here. I hope that is not the case. Trying to find a peaceful means to deal with the fundamentaists is a priority of our government. We are slowly realizing, after years of guerilla warfare that using all out military force will never solve the problem. Unless we degrade ourselves to the level of Saddam Hussein and do some ethnic cleansing of our own, waging war on our own people will never truly solve the solution. It will only serve to widen the religious and cultural divide.
I see no end to this war on terrorism and our future seems to be bleak. There are many who scoff at my martyr and seemingly foolish discourse on education and cultural tolerance.
I once shared the opinion of those who believe we should retaliate against terrorists, that we should take positive action against those who threated our security. I too reacted with anger towards those of the moslem faith, thinking them all alike. Condemning all of them as a whole for passively taking part and seemingly supporting the actions of a a few fundamentalists. But then I slowly began to realize that I knew absolutely nothing about those I was growing to hate, and that I had absolutely no idea about the Moslem religion beyond the fact that it preached: "death to infidels = paradise". Bewildered by the realization that I was growing to hate an enemy I knew absolutely nothing about, I began to read about the moslem faith. Was intrigued to learn that ironically, islam means peace. Learned about sufism, a brach of Islam that actually preached peace to all things. Learned how absolutely passionate the moslem people are about their fatih, their love of God.
I am of the opinion that fundamentalists and fanatics are bred and brainwashed to be the perfect assassins. They were deliberately kept ignorant and indoctrinated, their passion and love for God warped that they may willingly kill and sacrifice their lives for their "faith" How do u deal with a problem like this? By bombing them? They cleverly hide amidst the civilian populace so do we then bomb all of them including innocent civilians? Did that solve the problem? No, it merely added fuel to their resolve and belief that we were the Godless heathens.
The only way to fight ignorance is through education. It is a slow and gradual solution though which might take decades if not hundreds of years. It is ignorance that breeds war. So I began to educate myself about other religions and began to appreciate the richness of our cultural diversity. A beautiful tapestry is composed of many colored threads woven together to create a pattern. I hope someday we might all realize that.