Robi's South Asia Briefing: 2003-06-04

June 4/03: The War on Terrorism is a World War. While most of the world focuses on the Middle East, Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups retreat to South America, Africa and especially Asia where several counter insurgency conflicts continue.

This monthly Regional Briefing will focus on South Asia, courtesy of Robi Sen. Today we cover Israeli technology to India, shifting alliances on the sub-continent, Islamic terrorism throughout SE Asia, and a superb historical book that offers insights into the current War on Terror...

Suman Palit notes the sale of Israeli Phalcon AWACS to India and comments on how the US seems to be supporting India now that it has toned down its rhetoric. Perhaps it's also because the US has found that India is a better ally in the War on Terror? The US has traditionally in that last 3 decades had a close relationship with Pakistan and much poorer relationship with India.

Meanwhile Pakistan's Musharaff says that he will not be a barrier to peace. One wonders if there is any connection between emerging US support for India and a general warming of relationships between the two nuclear powered countries. Let's hope so. It would be a lot better for the whole world if they decide to wage their battles in the US Congress.

Damian Penny opines on the disturbing news of Taliban style approach to governance in a province in Pakistan.

Al-Qaeda may run a global enterprise, but governments around the world are joining in the fight. On May 28th in Cambodia law enforcement arrested three men with ties to Jemaah Islamiyah, the Southeast Asian extremist group associated with Al-Qaeda. This is the same group that was responsible for the Bali Bombings.

Another arrest comes in the Philippines of a terrorist "mastermind" and Hamish Robertson talks about terrorism in Australia.

A great resource for information on South East Asia is the South Asia Intelligence Review. Last week they looked at Al-Qaeda's recent actions and conclude it is actually weakening and losing its ability to attack "high value" targets.

Volume Of Interactions Blog discusses terrorism, Islam and Asian values. While Islamic terrorism is usually equated with the Middle East, most of the world's muslims actually live in Asia and South East Asia.

Keep up to date on the world and various countries with the CIA World Fact Book.

In 1969 to 1976 Britain sent the SAS to Oman to fight a secret war against counter insurgents that was probably the most successful example of counter insurgency ever. Major General Tony Jeapes documents the SAS's actions in Oman in his book SAS Secret War. The savvy reader will note numerous parallels between Oman then and current actions against radical Islamic terrorism in Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, India and elsewhere.

1 Comment

#1 from Arthur | June 5, 2003 10:43 AM | Reply

Robi ... you know, every time I read one of your posts, I have to spend three to ten times as long, reading all of the links and pondering the implications and ramifications. And this does not even include the books that you reference. I must say that I simply do not have the time to read even them too ... my book reading list is growing faster than it is shrinking ... but I must thank you for continuing to give me a greater and greater breadth of understanding about world events and the shifting tides. I was not aware of the state of affairs of US / India / Pakistan relations ... but I am glad to see them evolving to a more civilized arena. And, given the recent events between Israel & Palistine ... I wonder if this is a growing world trend that is emerging ... a positive fallout of the successful conclusion of the recent wars ... maybe ? Maybe it is too soon to be optimistic, but one can hope. And if this does prove to be true and we do begin to see a profound shift in world events .... I wonder if the anti-war proponents would admit that maybe, in this instance, they were wrong.

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Robi's South Asia Briefing: 2003-06-04

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