08/07/2002
EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-10052

U-S & ASEAN AGAINST TERROR

The ten nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN have recently met in Brunei and announced a commitment to strengthen their actions and cooperation to combat terrorism.

On August 1, ASEAN and the United States signed a Joint Declaration for Cooperation to Combat International Terrorism. As the Declaration says, ASEAN and the U.S. view "acts of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. . .as a profound threat to international peace and security, which require concerted action to protect and defend all peoples and the peace and security of the world." It provides a framework for cooperation to share intelligence, block terrorist funds, tighten borders and crack down on forged travel documents.

Secretary of State Colin Powell praised ASEAN for stepping forward to make the Declaration, describing it as a strong political statement that ASEAN is committed to the counter-terrorism campaign. In addition, ASEAN member nations have enhanced their regional cooperation. This past May, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia signed a regional counter-terror cooperation agreement, which Cambodia has now signed. Police in Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines have detained dozens of suspected terrorists.

Before the ASEAN meeting, Secretary Powell discussed challenges facing the U.S. and the Asia-Pacific region with Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong. "The biggest challenge is of course global terrorism," Prime Minister Goh said. "We are very pleased," he added, with "the cooperation that Singapore and [the] U.S. have in fighting this global terrorism.

The U.S. is cooperating closely with ASEAN nations through a variety of means, including diplomacy, law enforcement, intelligence sharing, shutting down terrorist finance networks, and military assistance. For example, in the Philippines, U.S. soldiers have helped to train Philippine troops. As Secretary Powell commented, the U.S. has done this in an effective way, to the satisfaction of the Philippine people. This case illustrates the principle which Secretary Powell has stressed, that "the United States Armed Forces in these sorts of operations go where we are invited, and we go and try to be helpful to the nation that invited us. . . We try to do it in a way that is sensitive to their history, their culture, their traditions and their political systems and needs."

The U.S. is committed to standing with its ASEAN partners against a common enemy -- international terrorism.