A Questionable Strategy
As the war on terrorism comes to Southeast Asia, governments are joining in for their own gain. The consequences will not be benign

AS THE UNITED STATES completes its military mission in Afghanistan, it is turning to Southeast Asia, convinced that the region is riddled with terrorists. The approaching campaign to weed out Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda and other terrorist networks, while regarded as necessary by Southeast Asian governments, is causing them considerable apprehension.

Still smarting from the September 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. and buoyed by their swift demolition of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, the Americans are opening a second front in their global war on terrorism. Initially, they'll send more than 650 troops to the southern Philippines to train local forces and join them on patrols against Muslim rebels. The fear is that the U.S. will lack the patience and subtlety needed to end the regional terrorist menace without destabilizing fragile administrations
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Government Gangsterism at Work
by Ted Rall

Unbridled legal hypocrisy is a recurring theme of the ideologically- impoverished Bush imperium. When it suits their immediate aims, the Bushies wield the law like a club. As soon as the law proves inconvenient, however, they chuck it out the window like a gum wrapper.
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