Need to unite

Now that enough evidence has come to light on the reality of the Islamic State”s (IS) threat, I thought I’d pause to reflect on the most likely reasons why IS chose to launch a major offensive in Marawi in Mindanao, Philippines.

The threat, of course, is the real and scary possibility of the IS (Maute’s and Abu Sayaff ’s links to IS have been confirmed) succeeding to make an Islamic State out of Mindanao and eventually of the whole country as they are trying but seems to be failing to do in Iraq and Syria.

My own personal inferences from the situation, though not subsumed by hard facts, are nevertheless more than educated guesses. In any case, the reader can judge for him/herself if these inferences are arguably what should motivate us to meet the challenge of IS as one Filipino nation.

Obviously, the new war front has to be in a predominantly Muslim area which Marawi is. But Marawi is such a tiny dot in IS’ political map that I suspect the latter must have more telling reasons to launch a major offensive there.

One could be that there is already an ongoing struggle for autonomy in Muslim Mindanao of which Marawi is the center. That means the first step is done and the second, that is to radicalize those fighting for autonomy, could come easy after a victory in Marawi.

Another could be that this country is divided politically, splintered actually, and as such is facing a big challenge with an even bigger handicap.

A third could be that while IS respects the combat proficiency of the Philippine Military, it is also keenly aware that the latter is the least technically capable military in the region.

The fourth reason could be that IS counted (wrongly it would seem now) on the Philippine military getting not even technical support from the US because of President Duterte’s anti-US posturings and the existence of a group in the country that blindsides itself into stringently protesting against US help from a motive of sheer ideological purity.

Thus, those who use the war in Marawi to undermine and topple the Duterte administration could be playing with fire. If they succeed in this dark purpose the power could fall not into their but into the hands of the IS. The same goes for those who feel they must be loyal to their up-in-the-air ideology and reject the unity needed in ground zero.

The bottom line is that IS is threatening both our democracy and our sovereignty. Consequently, we need to set aside political differences and face as one Filipino nation the challenge of what is commonly accepted worldwide as a war for world conquest waged by the Islamic State.

Meantime, we should at least be one in attending to the victims of the war without minding who gets the credit.