(By) ordering the assault of Zamboanga City, Nur Misuari has virtually crossed the Rubicon. The idiom "Crossing the Rubicon" means to pass a point of no return, and refers to Julius Caesar's army's crossing of the river in 49 BC, which was considered an act of insurrection.
It was the place where he uttered the famous phrase "alea iacta est" – the die is cast.
We are not saying Misuari is already downed. If there is a way, frankly speaking, we do not want that to happen. But his declaration of independence and ordering the assault of Zamboanga City is a wild move that can cause him great trouble, perhaps a gradual slipping into oblivion. The ill-effects are surely reaching him by now. More seriously, the moral legitimacy of his leadership is seriously doubted now. We don’t think the destruction, killings, abuses, and rapes (if true) that came with the siege can be easily forgotten and ignored. In fairness, his forces might not have committed all of those excesses, but in war, the losers usually got all the blames and curses. The victors dictate how the narratives of the war are written.
For one, the siege had effectively revived the old wounds of Moro-Christian animosities that are more alive in Zamboanga City than elsewhere where many if not most of the non-Muslim leaders are hostile to the cause of the MNLF and even of the MILF. There is hardly any distinction drawn between the two. They are more often lumped together.
The Zamboanga tragedy is not an act of brinkmanship, which great leaders often do, but rather in summary a blunder. The approach was reminiscent of 1970s model whereby no civilized rules of engagement were recognized by both government and insurgent forces. Anything that moved was a legitimate target. But today we are living in a more civilized world where there is clear and written norm of engagement which no one can disregard. We have to abide by it or the world will pound on us. We can see what happened to Pol Pot of Cambodia and President Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia, among others, how they were tried and brought to the bar of international justice. They were both shamed and cursed. We do not want that to happen to Misuari, who is considered father of the MNLF, which all of the senior leaders of the MILF were part of.
We do not know whether Misuari had ever thought of the negative impacts of his order. Obviously, he effectively forgot the doctrine of people’s war whereby the people’s interests and safety are central to every planning and activities pursued by a revolutionary organization. “Serve the people wholeheartedly” says the doctrine.
The extent of the damage of the siege would also seriously impact on the government, as well. Very surely, President Benigno Aquino III is encountering great difficulty in figuring out the better policy option he would adopt: File a case and arrest Misuari, sanitize him from any guilt of the siege and continue dealing with him, or launch military actions against him and his remaining loyal forces. None of the three options yield clear advantage to the government. All are laden with serious negative consequences. Perhaps, the best option is to choose the lesser evil. Or better still, look for the best option, which we are not sure there is any available.
Similarly, even the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) which supported Misuari through thick and thin for decades is surely taken aback by the debacle in Zamboanga City. They too have to do due diligence and soul-searching. Frankly, we do not know how they handle this kind of situation. We pray for their guidance!
http://www.luwaran.com/index.php/editorial/item/559-‘crossing-the-rubicon’
We are not saying Misuari is already downed. If there is a way, frankly speaking, we do not want that to happen. But his declaration of independence and ordering the assault of Zamboanga City is a wild move that can cause him great trouble, perhaps a gradual slipping into oblivion. The ill-effects are surely reaching him by now. More seriously, the moral legitimacy of his leadership is seriously doubted now. We don’t think the destruction, killings, abuses, and rapes (if true) that came with the siege can be easily forgotten and ignored. In fairness, his forces might not have committed all of those excesses, but in war, the losers usually got all the blames and curses. The victors dictate how the narratives of the war are written.
For one, the siege had effectively revived the old wounds of Moro-Christian animosities that are more alive in Zamboanga City than elsewhere where many if not most of the non-Muslim leaders are hostile to the cause of the MNLF and even of the MILF. There is hardly any distinction drawn between the two. They are more often lumped together.
The Zamboanga tragedy is not an act of brinkmanship, which great leaders often do, but rather in summary a blunder. The approach was reminiscent of 1970s model whereby no civilized rules of engagement were recognized by both government and insurgent forces. Anything that moved was a legitimate target. But today we are living in a more civilized world where there is clear and written norm of engagement which no one can disregard. We have to abide by it or the world will pound on us. We can see what happened to Pol Pot of Cambodia and President Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia, among others, how they were tried and brought to the bar of international justice. They were both shamed and cursed. We do not want that to happen to Misuari, who is considered father of the MNLF, which all of the senior leaders of the MILF were part of.
We do not know whether Misuari had ever thought of the negative impacts of his order. Obviously, he effectively forgot the doctrine of people’s war whereby the people’s interests and safety are central to every planning and activities pursued by a revolutionary organization. “Serve the people wholeheartedly” says the doctrine.
The extent of the damage of the siege would also seriously impact on the government, as well. Very surely, President Benigno Aquino III is encountering great difficulty in figuring out the better policy option he would adopt: File a case and arrest Misuari, sanitize him from any guilt of the siege and continue dealing with him, or launch military actions against him and his remaining loyal forces. None of the three options yield clear advantage to the government. All are laden with serious negative consequences. Perhaps, the best option is to choose the lesser evil. Or better still, look for the best option, which we are not sure there is any available.
Similarly, even the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) which supported Misuari through thick and thin for decades is surely taken aback by the debacle in Zamboanga City. They too have to do due diligence and soul-searching. Frankly, we do not know how they handle this kind of situation. We pray for their guidance!
http://www.luwaran.com/index.php/editorial/item/559-‘crossing-the-rubicon’
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