SINGAPORE — The deadliest terrorist networks in Southeast Asia have suffered significant setbacks in the past three years, weakened by aggressive policing, improved intelligence, enhanced military operations and an erosion of public support, government officials and counterterrorism specialists say.
政府官員與反恐怖主義專家說，過去3年來，對民眾造成最致命威脅的東南亞恐怖分子網路，已遭受多次嚴重挫折，在強勢警力部署、改善情報蒐集、提高軍事行動與民間支持流失等情況下，恐怖分子勢力逐漸減弱。

Three years after the region’s last major strike–the attacks on three restaurants in Bali that killed three suicide bombers and 19 other people–American and Asian intelligence analysts say financial and logistical support from Al Qaeda to other groups in the region has long dried up, and the most lethal are scrambling for survival.
東南亞地區上次發生重大恐怖攻擊事件是3年前，當時峇里島3家餐廳遭到攻擊，造成3名自殺炸彈客與另外19人喪生。現在美國與亞洲情報分析專家說，凱達組織提供其他恐怖團體的財務與後勤支援早就無以為繼，最危險致命的組織也在掙扎求存。

In Indonesia, since 2005 authorities have arrested more than 200 members of Jemaah Islamiyah, an Islamic group with ties to Al Qaeda. In the Philippines, an American-backed military campaign has the Abu Sayyaf Group, an Islamic extremist organization with links to Jemaah Islamiyah, clinging to footholds in the jungles of a handful of southern islands, officials said.
2005年至今，印尼政府逮捕了超過200名和凱達組織掛鉤的「伊斯蘭教祈禱會」成員。菲律賓官員則說，美國支持的軍事行動，使與「伊斯蘭教祈禱會」有關的伊斯蘭極端組織「阿布沙亞夫游擊隊」，只能守住他們在南方少數幾座島嶼上的叢林根據地。

Indonesia and the Philippines, which have faced the most serious terrorist threat in the region, have taken sharply different approaches to combat it. Each has achieved some success, offering lessons to American and allied counterterrorism efforts worldwide. But there are worrisome signs that the threat could rebound.
雙雙面臨東南亞地區最嚴重恐怖威脅的印尼與菲律賓，在對付恐怖威脅時採取截然不同的策略。兩個國家都獲得一些成功，供美國與聯手反恐的世界各國取經時參考。但目前又出現一些恐怖威脅可能死灰復燃的徵兆，令人擔憂。

A bombing at a Philippine air base in the southern island of Mindanao late last month killed two people and wounded 22 others. Peace talks between the Philippine government and the country’s main Muslim separatist group are threatening to fall apart, which could ignite wider violence, building on deep anger about the country’s military-first approach against Muslims. In February, the head of Jemaah Islamiyah in Singapore slipped out a prison bathroom window, hopped a fence and disappeared.
5月底菲國南部民答那峨島一座空軍基地發生爆炸，使2人死亡，另外22人受傷。菲律賓政府與該國主要穆斯林分離主義團體之間的和平談判恐將破裂，主要因為菲律賓政府以武力對付穆斯林，穆斯林積怨太深，可能激發更普遍的暴力衝突。今年2月，新加坡的伊斯蘭教祈禱會首腦從監獄浴室窗戶脫逃，躍過柵欄之後就消失無蹤。

But senior American officials, government authorities in the region and counterterrorism specialists say that the most serious threats are on the wane.
但是美國高階官員、東南亞各國政府當局與反恐專家都說，最嚴重的威脅已逐漸消失。

“The governments out here take it very seriously and, in my opinion, seem to be doing a very good job individually and working together to deal with that terrorist threat,” Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, a former director of central intelligence, told reporters on June 1 at a regional security conference here.
曾任中央情報局局長的美國國防部長蓋茲，6月1日在新加坡召開的區域安全會議上告訴記者：「這個地區各國政府都很嚴肅看待這件事，在我看來，似乎每一國政府都做得很好，能攜手合作處理恐怖威脅。」

The United States and Australia have played major roles in helping Southeast Asian countries combat terrorist threats in the region, providing personnel and training as well as sophisticated equipment.
在協助東南亞國家對抗該區域恐怖威脅上，美國與澳洲扮演重要角色，提供東南亞各國相關人員、訓練，與尖端精密的反恐裝備。

In contrast to the Philippines, where the United States is backing a more militarized approach, Indonesia has taken a different tack, in which terrorist suspects are treated well and encouraged to defect or to share information.
與在美國支持下比較重視軍事掃蕩的菲律賓兩相對照，印尼另闢蹊徑，善待那些恐怖分子嫌犯，鼓勵他們脫離恐怖組織或提供有關情報。

At the same time, the Indonesian government has been sentencing some prominent captives to long prison terms. Zarkasih, who uses one name and is believed to have been the leader of Jemaah Islamiyah from 2005 until his arrest last year, was sentenced in April to 15 years in prison. Abu Dujana, a deputy who led the group’s military arm and was also arrested last year, was also sentenced to 15 years.
與此同時，印尼政府也將一些被捕的知名恐怖分子判處長期監禁。今年4月，使用單名、據信從2005年至去年1月被捕前一直擔任伊斯蘭教祈禱會領導人的札卡西，被判15年徒刑。曾率領伊斯蘭教祈禱會武裝分子、同樣去年被捕的札卡西副手阿布‧杜賈納，也被判15年徒刑。

“Overall, the threat is far less in Indonesia than it was two or three years ago,” said Sidney Jones, a senior adviser to the International Crisis Group in Jakarta and an expert on terrorism in Southeast Asia.
「國際危機組織」駐雅加達資深顧問、東南亞恐怖主義專家席妮‧瓊斯說：「大體上，現在印尼的恐怖主義威脅比2、3年前小多了。」

The government’s campaign against Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines has been dominated by a heavy military approach that is often seen as broadly categorizing all Muslims together as a threat, which terror experts and analysts fear could backfire.
菲律賓政府對抗阿布沙亞夫游擊隊的行動，主要以大量軍事圍剿行動為主，外界往往認為這種手段把所有穆斯林都看成威脅，恐怖主義專家與分析人員擔心，此種作法可能引發反效果。

Lumping the Islamic Front with Abu Sayyaf will inflame those Filipino Muslims who are seeking self-determination through a peace effort, and make it harder for the Front to cooperate in fighting terrorism, said Abhoud Syed Lingga, the executive director of the Institute of Bangsamoro Studies, a research organization on Islamic issues in Cotabato City, in Mindanao.
位於民答那峨島戈沓描多市的伊斯蘭問題研究機構「摩洛民族研究所」執行主任阿布胡德‧賽德‧林加說，把伊斯蘭陣線和阿布沙亞夫游擊隊混為一談，勢必激怒那些希望透過和平方式尋求民族自決的菲律賓穆斯林，也會使伊斯蘭陣線更難與政府合作打擊恐怖主義。

“U.S. forces are strengthening the Philippine military and using civic action to drive a wedge between rebels and the Muslim populace,” said a recent report by the International Crisis Group that referred to the Abu Sayyaf Group. “But if their goal is to defeat the A.S.G. and its foreign, mainly Indonesian, jihadi allies, they are casting the net too widely and creating unnecessary enemies.”
國際危機組織最近所發表的報告提到阿布沙亞夫游擊隊時說：「美軍正在加強菲律賓軍隊的戰力，並藉非暴力手法離間叛亂分子與穆斯林人口。但他們的目標如果只是擊潰阿布沙亞夫游擊隊及其在國外以印尼為主的伊斯蘭聖戰盟友，他們撒的網太廣了，替自己製造許多不必要的敵人。」

關鍵字句

恐怖組織（terrorist organization）通常會帶來致命威脅（to pose a deadly threat），但是東南亞國家的官員認為，最近恐怖組織的威脅已經日益減弱（be on the wane）。這是因為政府部署警力壓制歹徒（policing）更加主動積極（aggressive），情報蒐集（intelligence gathering）與軍事行動（military operation）效能也已提升（improved / enhanced）所致。

本文提到的自殺炸彈攻擊（suicide bombing），可說已是一種「標準恐怖攻擊手法」（a standard terrorist technique），但要對付這種視死如歸（take death lightly）的攻擊者，應該了解他們的真正背景（background）與他們之所以殺人求死的主張（arguments），而非像最後一段所說的，美國政府雖想揪出恐怖分子，撒網的範圍太大（cast the net too widely），反而無端樹敵（create unnecessary enemies）。

Abu Sayyaf Group音譯「阿布沙亞夫游擊隊」，但Abu Sayyaf在阿拉伯語是「持刀劍的人」（bearer of the sword）。這個以菲律賓南部為根據地（foothold）的好戰團體（militant organization），企圖為當地穆斯林少數族群（Muslim minority）建立伊斯蘭教國家（Islamic state），與天主教人口占多數的菲律賓其他地方區隔。此外，Bangsamoro泛指菲律賓南部主要信奉伊斯蘭教的多語言族群「摩洛」（Moro），亦可指這些民族的居住地。至於印尼的Jemaah Islamiyah，通常譯「伊斯蘭教祈禱會」。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/09/world/asia/09terror.html
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/09/asia/09terror.php

2008-06-17/聯合報/G4版/UNITED DAILY NEWS 王先棠 原文請見6月17日紐時周報四版頭條