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HONOLULU (May 17) - Public attention in the United States to the war on terror focuses on the large conventional deployments, bombings and firefights in Iraq and secondarily in Afghanistan. However, elsewhere and particularly in Southeast Asia -- where the main threats are Al Qaeda allies such as Jemaah Islamiyah and the Filipino group Abu Sayyaf -- the United States is relying primarily on a smaller-scale, lower-profile instrument better known from the Vietnam War period, Special Operations Forces (SOF). The most prominent of these units is the Army's Green Berets, but counterparts include the Navy Seals, and the Air Force's Special Operations Aviation Regiment.
The signature of the SOF is that they operate in small units and they work in close collaboration with local military forces. Special Forces were principal U.S. actors at the ground level in the successful initial campaign in Afghanistan in 2001. "The SOF are true specialists in working with local counterparts and accommodating and blending with the local cultures," comments Richard Baker, a former career Foreign Service Officer and now special assistant to the president at the East-West Center. Baker also points out the SOF troops are trained to be "flexible in building in the lessons of experience as they go."
SOF have been the centerpiece of the Bush Administration's efforts, starting in late 2001, to open 'a second front' in the international war on terrorism in Southeast Asia. In this region, governments such as those of the Philippines and Indonesia have sought U.S. cooperation and assistance in their own counterterrorism efforts. U.S. troops serve as trainers and advisers to the local military forces - training that can be very "hands on" when the situation requires but whose major purpose is to strengthen the ability of the local forces to do the job themselves.
The ability to work with local counterparts is essential to the success of this effort. Another important weapon in this new war is not new. Although the Vietnam-era phrase, "winning the hearts and minds of the people," still evokes negative images for some Americans, many experts believe that exactly is what has to be done to win the fight against terrorism and its recruiters.
A recent conference of U.S. and Asian military, academic, counter-terrorism, and intelligence experts in Honolulu acknowledged and strongly endorsed the view that to stem the tide of radical movements in Southeast Asia, governments need to get their messages into the towns and villages before the radicals beat them to it. This must be done in a manner that will not cause resentment, but will respect the values and complex cultures of the region.
That the United States is involved in such small-scale grassroots action is a good thing, according to Baker.
"If we assume, as seems only logical, that the war against international terrorism ... jihadist and otherwise ... is going to be both of long duration and worldwide in scope, then the kind of smaller-scale, organic collaboration with the other countries where terrorism is also an immediate threat is clearly the way to go."
The East-West Center analyst says low-profile cooperation with Southeast Asian nations is also an astute economic and political move.
"Politically, this would seem to be the much wiser course. Although it can be expensive, it nevertheless involves a miniscule investment compared with the mega-bucks being poured into the Iraq campaign. And it is far less likely to lead to the kind of public exhaustion and disillusionment and Congressional opposition that inevitably accompany drawn-out larger scale conflicts, such as Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq."
The current U.S. assistance in Southeast Asia has not garnered the publicity that earlier forays into the region had nor the headlines generated by the war in Iraq. That, too, according to Baker might be a good thing.
"We tend to hear and read less about the 21st century Green Berets than the more massive and less stealthy units. That is frankly purposeful on their part. It is another measure of their skill as well as their relative success in what they do."
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Richard Baker can be contacted at (808) 944-7371 or via email at BakerR@EastWestCenter.org
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