Article: Another Casualty of Fear, Another Win For Terrorism

This week the Philippine government, due to the kidnapping of one of their nationals, began withdrawing its small contingent of troops from Iraq. They were scheduled to return home on August 21st anyway, but the fact that they have acquiesced to the demands of thugs and murderers is a disgrace. On the surface it may seem like a small, symbolic victory for our enemies, which would be bad enough, but there’s more to it than that. President Arroyo is additionally calling for the withdrawal of several thousand Filipino private contractors in Iraq, most of whom work in the medical sector. This would make it a significant defeat for the Iraq people as well.With international headlines spouting defeatism like U.S. Coalition in Iraq Shrinking, I can’t see how a decision like this does anything but encourage and embolden our enemies. They may have saved one life, but it is certain, just as the Spanish have ensured that terrorism will become a part of the Western electoral landscape, the Filipinos have only helped to establish kidnapping as a viable tactic. I mourn in advance the countless other kidnapping victims that are sure to follow from this act of national cowardice.