27 November 2001

Admiral Blair BBC Interview on Southeast Asia

In an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) November 27 in Indonesia, Admiral Dennis C. Blair said the United States was working with Southeast Asian governments to "ensure that international terrorism is not taking root in this part of the world."

The Commander in Chief of the U.S. Pacific Command called the Philippine terrorist group Abu Sayaaf "the most immediate threat" to Southeast Asian security because the organization "is unique in the focus and in the size and in the destructiveness right now."

Blair said the United States was assisting the Philippine government fight the threat by providing American training, advisors, and maintenance support.

"And that's more the model of the way we will operate in this part of the world, supporting other countries who see it as their responsibility to handle terrorist threats," Blair said.

"I think this model of training assistance, intelligence exchange, working on the other aspects like customs and financial dealings is more the model for this part of the world," he continued.

He added that the United States would continue to cooperate on issues such as maritime security and intelligence sharing with the Indonesian government in order to assist its fight against local terrorists.

Following is a transcript of the BBC interview:

BBC: Can I ask you first of all, there have been these reports that Southeast Asia could become America's next front on its war on terrorism. Is that still the case, and why, sir?

Adm. Blair: Southeast Asia is an area which historically, as long ago as 1995, was a base used by an international terrorist organization to plot an attack against airplanes in the sky. There was, as I mentioned earlier, a Southeast Asian brigade that went to Afghanistan and fought earlier. So this is an area in which terrorists can find a base to operate from and our campaign here is working with the governments in the region who share our commitment against terrorism to ensure that it does not use this base for operations against all of our countries.

BBC: Would your operations involve actually sending in American troops into this region to fight some kind of anti-terrorism war?

Adm. Blair: The focus of our approach here is working with and in support of the governments. A good example is the Philippines. The Philippines are dealing with a terrorism group, the Abu Sayaaf Group. It does have historical connections with al Qaeda. We are providing training, advisors, maintenance support, in order to help the Philippines deal with that threat. And that's more the model of the way we will operate in this part of the world, supporting other countries who see it as their responsibility to handle terrorist threats.

BBC: You say you've actually sent in personnel into the Philippines to deal with the problems there. Do you see that actually broadening out, that American military personnel might be sent into other countries here in Southeast Asia?

Adm. Blair: The American personnel who have been in the Philippines were part of a preliminary assessment group to figure out what the right sort of support is.

I thought of another area, in Thailand, for example, we have cooperated closely with the Thai armed forces and border police against drug running and this involved, again, American training, American advisors. There's a lot in common between the drug threat and the terrorist threat. So I think this model of training assistance, intelligence exchange, working on the other aspects like customs and financial dealings is more the model for this part of the world.

BBC: But at the moment do you see the Philippines and the Abu Sayaaf as being the biggest threat to American interests and Western interests as a whole in this region, the Southeast Asia region?

Adm. Blair: I think that's the most immediate threat. There are two American hostages that they hold. They're an active group that is working against the Philippine government and against international citizens. In other areas, though there is a good, they could have some sympathizers or al Qaeda cells that we need to go after also, but the Abu Sayaaf Group is unique in the focus and in the size and in the destructiveness right now.

BBC: But you say there are those other cells allegedly of al Qaeda in different parts of Southeast Asia. One of those is right here in Indonesia. We have reports, there are actually American officials who briefed to that effect.

Is there still an operative al Qaeda cell as far as you're aware here in Indonesia?

Adm. Blair: I'm not going to talk directly about intelligence matters, but Indonesia with its huge size, its borders which have been breached in the past by people, smugglers, by pirates and all, have to be concerned about whether groups like international terrorists could move in here. We are working with the Indonesians who share our commitment against them.

The support that we're providing right now is in comparing intelligence and in really sizing up the situation. We are not certainly to the point that we are with the Philippines of more active American assistance.

BBC: But the sort of security alerts as far as the American Embassy is concerned, seems to have actually eased. Do you think the threat... We've had the reports there are credible threats against the American Embassy from al Qaeda-linked groups supposedly. Has that threat diminished now somewhat?

Adm. Blair: I've been here with the Ambassador over the last couple of days and he's satisfied with the security at the American Embassy right now.

BBC: The other sort of side to this, is the indigenous Indonesian extremist Islamic groups here which may or may not have some link with al Qaeda. We certainly know they have links with Afghanistan in the past, maybe in the present as well. How concerned are you about that?

Adm. Blair: The sort of sectarian violence in the Moluccas and in Sulawesi is of concern to Indonesia, and I think it creates... A term I've used in the past is a seam of lawlessness, an area in which normal security and the ability of people to go about their business in peace is wiped out by violence. Police are not asserting authority. So any time you have these seams of lawlessness, whether they be in Basilan, in Jolo, in Sulawesi, in Eastern Myanmar, those are of concern and we support the governments enforcing the rules, checking up on to protect normal citizens and not allowing international groups to come in and use them for their own purposes.

BBC: But do you think those groups are likely to be linked with the international people coming here connected to bin Laden?

Adm. Blair: I think there is certainly a potential there for international groups to establish themselves. Again, I don't want to talk about the precise situation at the present, but seams of lawlessness are a big concern.

BBC: And do you think that these Indonesian groups are really some of the most worrying groups in the region? If you're looking across the region and you see the Islamic extremists of Indonesia, one which really shows up on the radar screen?

Adm. Blair: I think that some of the... Let me think about that question for a second.

I don't want to single out any one group or any one region. We simply need to, with the governments of the area across the board ensure that international terrorism is not taking root in this part of the world.

BBC: But you say, I mean obviously the focus is try to root out and eliminate if there are such groups in countries here, in Indonesia. Are you satisfied with the kind of cooperation and the progress which is being made by Indonesian authorities here? And do you believe they're actually capable of dealing with this problem?

Adm. Blair: September 11th was not that long ago and we are really getting started in this new era of cooperation against this threat with the countries of the region including Indonesia. So we've had a good start, but we have a ways to go.

BBC: What are the real focuses, priorities as far as the American military command is concerned? What do you want to see your military partners here in Indonesia and in other countries in Southeast Asia really doing to tackle these groups?

Adm. Blair: I think we're concerned with maritime security, ensuring that the borders between our countries and the borders in this region are secure, and that those ships that pass by these borders and the ships and planes that come in are on legitimate business. That's a big feature.

I think we are concerned that the, really, military support for security forces is followed in places like Basilan and Jolo where police are overwhelmed. And we're also concerned that our intelligence sharing is solid so we cannot allow information or individuals to sort of slip in a crack and not be followed up and not be identified.

BBC: What is the main focus in terms of the assistance which you can give to the Indonesia government and military forces to help them deal with the issue?

Adm. Blair: It's in the areas that I mentioned. We cooperate on issues like maritime security. We cooperate on intelligence sharing. Those are two primary areas.

BBC: (inaudible) like Indonesia, this is a massive country of say 15, 16, or 17,000 islands. Do you really think they can actually protect those borders and stop people slipping in a way that they've done for centuries?

Adm. Blair: It's a tall order, but if you look at the destruction that can be caused by terrorists these days, it's an order that we have to step up to and we have to approach. Technology has made the destructive capability of terrorists so great that we have to take our effort to a new level in order to defeat it.

BBC: How satisfied are you with the support which you're getting from President Megawati in here in Indonesia? She started off being very supportive of the war on terrorism, but then clearly was forced into a position where she spoke out against American military action in Afghanistan, saying that America really has no right to attack a sovereign nation such as Afghanistan in the way it did.

How concerned are you about whether this, the largest Muslim nation in the world, is actually really behind what you're doing?

Adm. Blair: In my meetings over the last couple of days here I'm convinced that Indonesia is sharing common cause with the United States and many other countries against terrorism. We may have policy differences on some aspects of what we both do in areas, but in our commitment that this sort of threat to our citizens should be eliminated, we agree completely.

BBC: Do you think that she really is in a position to actually tackle Islamic extremist groups in the way that you want?

Adm. Blair: I think the Indonesian government is in a position to tackle international terrorism and has a lot of capability to do so.

BBC: And you believe it will do so?

Adm. Blair: I believe it will do so, yes.

BBC: And one final question. Iraq. Is that going to happen? Is there going to be attacks on Iraq next year?

Adm. Blair: I'm not in a position to answer that question.

BBC: Thank you very much.

Adm. Blair: Thank you.