July 19, 2004 ☼ Foreign Affairs
It was not just a matter of pulling out its troops in deference to the wishes of Iraqi terrorists who had kidnapped a Filipino; the Philippines government (with financial help from Malaysia) paid $6m in ransom (via Wizbang) so that the hostage could be released ahead of President Arroyo’s state of the nation address. As Kevin Aylward points out, this does make Philippines a some kind of a state sponsor of terrorism.
The Philippines’ buckling down to terrorist demands is bad enough, but it comes even as American troops stationed in the southern Philippines are helping its government fight off Islamic terrorist rebels.
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