Coup de Grâce

This mindanao insurgency (I refuse to name it us Muslim insurgency, lest, I will be qualifying that this is about Muslim-Christian rift, which it is not) is perennial and it's about time we put an end to it. These bandits are criminals that should surrender or be obliterated;justice at all cost. Peace and prosperity in the south, and the country as a whole, can never be achieved as long there are self-styled armed groups.

It would be a blunder to call for a ceasefire at this juncture, unless the military is stupid enough not to know that ceasefires are only used as smokescreen to regroup and rearm. With these developments, the military is on higher moral ground and shouldn't waste the opportunity and momentum.

However, there are few things that the government should do for this "crusade" (maybe this word is distasteful as it also denotes the shameful medieval Christian war to recover the Holy Land from the Muslims).

Firstly, there should be media blackout. There's no doubt it would be messy. You don't want the carnage on both sides to be aired prime time and stir emotions high. Misguided groups from every quarters would surely be on the streets blurting how inhumane this military campaign is. Then of course, those good-for-nothing assholes politicians will ride with the issue and try to gain cookie points with rhetorics and grandstanding. We don't want politics, a malady by itself, to lick this issue. How I wish that they bring their rotten ass in Patikul and reason out with those barbarics. Secondly: Uncle Sam will surely be more than willing to "lend a hand" one way or another, to their best interest of course, and as always. Maybe their hands are already on the cookie jar, who knows. GMA should exploit it, discreetly though, and ask for support. We need all the help that we can get. But we can't allow their soldiers to be on the frontline, lest, we stir nationalistic sentiments. Thirdly: GMA was prudent enough when she announced that the war is waged only on Abu Sayyaf and MNLF-Nur Misuari wing and not on MILF and MNLF. For the time being that's well and fine; divide and conquer. But eventually, these groups should also be disarmed, the very least, to genuinely and effectively manuever the peace process. As long as they are armed, there can be no guarantee. Fourthly: Make do without foreign Muslim intervention, specially Malaysia. This country is all the while playing cloak-and-dagger with us and purportedly feeding the insurgency in the south to divert us from claiming Sabah. Darn! If they are really that concerned with their "brothers", why not just take them all in?!

We'd tried solving this age-old malady sitting down without an end in sight. If we want a lasting peace we should be willing to pay the price. If shedding blood is imminent and obligatory, so be it.