I know the author of this piece. He works for Dr. Gunaratna and he's a pretty smart guy.
The recent car bombing in Thailand that killed five people and wounded more than 44 has once again highlighted the threat of terrorism in Southeast Asia. Though much has been written about the dangers posed by terrorist groups in Southeast Asia, there is hardly any analysis of the US counter-terrorism strategy in the region, which has been dubbed by the George W Bush administration as the "second front on the war on terror".
Is America winning the second front on the "war on terror"? The answer appears to be mixed. It is true that with American's assistance and support, Southeast Asian countries have been successful in eliminating terrorist networks in the region; nevertheless, American's unilateral actions, such as the war in Iraq, have alienated Muslim populations within Southeast Asia, thereby generating the "political oxygen" that militant radicals exploit to reinforce their ideology. Thus, though America is succeeding in the military dimension of the "war on terror", it appears to be losing the ideological one. However, before we continue it would be prudent to know what the terrorism threat is in Southeast Asia.
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