06/25/2002
EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-09967

ATTACKING ABU SAYYAF

The September 11^th terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon outside Washington were not simply attacks on the United States. People from dozens of countries lost their lives that day. Now some one-hundred-eighty nations are assisting the global war on terrorism. Authorities in more than ninety countries have arrested or detained over two-thousand terrorist suspects and their supporters.

The U.S. is training anti-terrorism forces in Yemen, Georgia, and the Philippines. And there have already been notable successes. Afghanistan has been liberated. The repressive Taleban gave sanctuary to Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaida terrorists. The Taleban have now been overthrown. The Afghan people are forming a new government. Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital, is being protected by a Turkish-led international security force.

The most recent blow against terrorism took place in the Philippines, where military authorities reported the sinking of a boat carrying Abu Sayyaf terrorists. U.S. navy special-warfare techniques and tactics are among the skills taught to members of the Philippine armed forces since the anti-terrorism training program began in February.

The terrorists who were intercepted included Abu Sayaba, a prominent Abu Sayyaf leader. According to Philippine authorities, Sayaba was trying to jump ship when he was shot and fell overboard. Four others were captured. A Pentagon spokesman said that the U.S. supported this operation with planning and sharing of information.

Abu Sayyaf is a Muslim separatist extremist group which has had ties to al-Qaida. It finances its terrorist activities in the southern Philippines by kidnapping, murder and extortion. The group is based on Basilan Island. In May 2001, Abu Sayyaf kidnapped American missionaries Gracia and Martin Burnham and Philippine nurse Deborah Yap. Ms. Yap and Mr. Burnham were killed June 7^th as Philippine military forces attempted a rescue.

As President George W. Bush said, "Every civilized nation has a part in this struggle, because every civilized nation has a stake in its outcome. There can be no peace in a world where differences and grievances become an excuse to target the innocent for murder. In fighting terror," said President Bush, "we fight for the conditions that will make lasting peace possible. We fight for lawful change against chaotic violence, for human choice against coercion and cruelty, and for the dignity and goodness of every life."