THE NEW YORK TIMES, Sunday, June 2, 2002
Pentagon Official Seeks Aid for Moderate Muslim States
By ERIC SCHMITT
SINGAPORE, June 1 - The Pentagon's second-in-command sought to rally support in
Asia today for moderate Muslim nations and their people who find themselves "on the
front lines of the struggle against terrorism."
Paul D. Wolfowitz, the deputy defense secretary, said the United States and its allies
in the region "have an obligation" and "a self-interest" to support tolerant Muslims who
champion democratic practices. "When we help give them moral and material support
against the opposition they encounter, we are indeed helping lay the foundation for
peace," he said.
Speaking at the three-day Asia Security Conference here, Mr. Wolfowitz said the
region's long-term stability rested on several pillars, including continued American
engagement.
But Mr. Wolfowitz, a former ambassador to Indonesia, put special emphasis on
strengthening ties with certain Muslim nations, including many in Asia, because "they
represent some of the most moderate and tolerant traditions in Islam.
"These voices are essential to bridging the dangerous gap that now exists between
the West and the Muslim world," said Mr. Wolfowitz, reprising a theme he first voiced
publicly last month in Monterey, Calif.
But here on the other side of the Pacific, where nearly half of the world's one billion
Muslims live, Mr. Wolfowitz's remarks carried added resonance. This tiny city-state
has Malaysia and Indonesia as neighbors, two countries with huge Muslim
populations that are both in the throes of combating terrorist cells.
As he did in the Monterey speech, Mr. Wolfowitz paid tribute to moderate Islamic
countries like Turkey, Morocco and Jordan.
His speech today, delivered to more than 150 defense officials, legislators,
academics, industry executives and journalists gathered by the London-based
International Institute for Strategic Studies, carried the cold-war echo of an ideological
battle. "This larger war is a struggle against the enemies of tolerance and freedom,
against the enemies of modernity and secularism, of pluralism and democracy, and
real economic development," he said.
In the campaign against terror, many Asian allies have helped, he said. Japan has
provided transport planes and has led the effort to mobilize reconstruction aid for
Afghanistan. Australian commandos have fought in eastern Afghanistan. New Zealand
has provided logistical support. The region has overcome historical animosities and
complex territorial disputes, he said.
While Mr. Wolfowitz did not lay out the detailed, long-term American strategy for Asia
that some experts had hoped for, he offered suggestions of how some areas might
evolve.
For example, Mr. Wolfowitz provided a relatively upbeat assessment of how an
increasingly powerful China could play a positive role in the region. "We can be much
more hopeful of a positive outcome in China's case because all of the countries of the
region are prepared to welcome a strong Chinese role in a constructive regional
order," he said.
Mr. Wolfowitz said that he and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld had discussed
several defense-related issues with Vice President Hu Jintao of China at the Pentagon
recently. Those talks produced an agreement to send Peter W. Rodman, an assistant
secretary of defense, to Beijing this month to discuss increased military-to-military
contacts.
Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company
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