US army to target SE Asian terrorists "soon"
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-06-04 16:11

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said that he hoped US military forces will soon be hunting terrorists in Southeast Asia, but stopped short of giving details.

In a dialogue with sailors and marines aboard the naval vessel USS Essex at a Singapore base ahead of a major regional security meeting, he was asked "when are we going to start hunting some terrorists in this theater?"

"Well, I would hope pretty soon," Rumsfeld replied.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld speaks during a town hall meeting aboard the USS Essex during a troop visit to Changi Naval Base in Singapore June 4, 2004. [Reuters]

"I know that the only way we're going to deal with this problem is to recognize it is truly global, that we have to bring all the elements of national power to bear on it," he said.

"We simply cannot wait for another attack and expect to defend against it. We have to go out and find those terrorist networks and the people financing them and countries providing a safe haven for them.

"It is a tough thing to do," he added.

Rumsfeld gave no specifics but speaking to reporters on the flight to Singapore the day before, he said that a suggestion to put US Marines on high-speed boats to go after terrorists in Southeast Asian waters was "misreported".

In his comments Friday aboard the USS Essex, he emphasized intelligence gathering as crucial in pursuing terrorist threats.

"I think the fact that there is not a lot of publicity about what's happening out here may be kind of misleading because there is pressure being put on terorrists in this part of the world everyday," he said.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld speaks during a town hall meeting aboard the USS Essex at Changi Naval Base in Singapore June 4, 2004. [Reuters]

Rumsfeld singled out the "close cooperation we have for example with our wonderful friends here in Singapore."

The Essex is an amphibious assault ship docked at a new pier built by Singapore to accommodate US aircraft carriers.

Rumsfeld also warned that radical Islamists were seeking to destabilize moderate Muslim countries.

"They hope and they are making efforts destabilize the moderate Muslim countries everywhere across the globe," he said.

On his flight Thursday to Singapore, Rumsfeld had waved off questions about a new regional maritime security initiative that has sparked controversy in Malaysia and Indonesia because it could reportedly involve stepped-up US patrols of the Strait of Malacca.

Admiral Thomas Fargo, head of the US Pacific Command, is reported to have told a congressional committee that he was considering putting marines on high-speed vessels in the strait to catch terrorists.

But Rumsfeld said Fargo's remarks were "misreported".

"We're in the process of trying to unravel all of that. It is in its early stages. They are in a consultation mode. They will be discussing it with various countries in the region," he said.

A third of the world trade and half the world's supply of oil passes through the strait -- straddled by Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia -- to markets in Japan, China and South Korea.

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