The views that have been posted so far by Tripwire and myself
can only be hypothetical and no more.
It is regrettable and unfortunate that Indonesia has been referred
to in the postings, as it has so far had its own citizens and
residents being caught and "fingered" in some very compromising
situations in the Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore; and as a
single South-east Asian country, it has the most active number of
Radical Islamic Groups that are running amok even within its
territory (reference the Molukus Riots, Church Bombings, Night Club
raids or riots, Aceh Rebellion).
Indonesia as a reference country, can also easily be replaced by
Malaysia or Thailand or the Philippines, each country has its own
variation of radical Islamic Groups that are actively taking up
arms against the established rule of the Legitimate Governments of
each of these South-east Asian Countries.
Any one of these countries will have to respond to the pressures of
world opinion at the risk of a united action from the United
Nations; if ever an incident such as that of the size of the 9-11
incident should befall onto Singapore.
Even for a Bali Incident within its own sovereign territory,
Indonesia cannot afford not to respond, given the gravity of the
situation; just as it has confirmed the hypothetical position that
it cannot afford not to ignore outside opinions - which in this
case is Australian pressures to let in Australian investigators to
HELP(??) in the investigation of the Bali Incident.
No country can put National Pride and withstand the U.N. embargo
and prefer to be a Pariah State by not taking actions against
their own Nationals or Residents, and give protection and safe
harbor to these perpetrators of crime against humanity.
Even Libya finally cave in after more then 10 years of preferred
self isolation as a result of the U.N. embargo for the bombing of a
Pan-Am 747 jet at Lockerbie, Scotland.
India had accused Pakistan of harboring Islamic Terrorists, and
India would have launched a war against Pakistan, except for the
fact that both now possess Nuclear Weapons which Pakistan has
assured that they will not hesitate to use the Nuclear Option, if
their Army face massive defeat.
Israel has held the Palestinian Authorities responsible for the
Terrorist Attacks against the Israelis. This accusation from Israel
is repugnant and totally disingenuous, as the Israeli Army had
systematically dismantled the effective tools of policing by the
Palestinian Authority against any raids conducted by Palestinian
Radicals.
Indonesia is a recognized friendly state towards Singapore,
although there exist many vocal radical groups that remain volatile
and exploited by extremists with their own agenda to gain power
from the Islamic pulpit.
These radicals can usurp the leadership of the country from the
Government, much as the Ayatollahs of Iran had usurped the powers
of Government from the Shah of Iran.
If the Indonesian Government should suddenly fall and give rise to
such a Radical Group to come into power, and which prefer to
support and perpetrate hostile actions against Singapore, we cannot
simply sit still and allow such groups to harm our lives and
properties in Singapore.
Singapore will have to respond in an aggressive manner with the
S.A.F.
Singapore is recognized as a Regional Power despite our size; and
Singapore is quietly and modestly keeping a low profile.
Much to the discomfort of our Political Leaders, and as much as we
would like to avoid the comparison, the truth of the unholy word is
that Singapore is like Israel in the Middle East, with both being
surrounded by Islamic Countries that has seen a strong revival of
Fundamentalist Islamic practices.
Like Israel, Singapore cannot afford not to respond aggressively
against terrorist Acts of Wars by individuals or groups that take
refuge in neighboring countries that are either inept or powerless
to stop such perpetrators.
How to end a war that involves the S.A.F?
We should learn from history to study how other wars ended.
From my own view, it depends on how the war is being planned and
executed, and the goals and objectives that are to be achieved by
the S.A.F.
It depends on the type of war that the S.A.F will have to fight. It
depends on the duration of the war that the S.A.F can afford to
fight; and how much has been achieved within the allotted
period.
However, like the USA in its fight against terrorism, Singapore
will depend on how much international support the Singapore
Government and the S.A.F will receive in such a war.
