Tim May wrote:
"We are prepared to bomb Manila in order to root out terrorism," he might as well have said.
The capital is a long way from the nasties; they're closer to my neighborhood (Mindanao).
The PI chick prez is promising more cooperation in the war on terrorism, so look for more crackdowns on civil liberties in the PI.
There's no evidence of ANY crackdown on civil liberties here. The fight against terrorism here is directed at the terrorists, who unfortunately do exist. When there was agitation in Metro Manila a few months ago, Gloria did declare a State of Rebellion, but it applied only to the capital and was revoked as soon as the police had a handle on the rioting, even before things calmed down completely. There is a high degree of sensitivity here, dating to the Marcos régime, to any hint of martial law, and politicians are very reluctant to even consider it. The kind of Fabian loss of liberty taking place in the States is not really possible here, because the mechanism for enforcing the "death of a thousand cuts" does not exist - it's all or nothing. So far, it's nothing. We had a visit from some PACOM terrorism experts recently, and I think there will be some concrete help forthcoming against the Abu Sayyaf, which is the local al-Quaeda franchise and a very nasty (though fortunately small) element. I daresay that with PATRIOT in effect in the USA, your privacy and liberty are safer here! Marc de Piolenc Iligan, Lanao del Norte