AFP on Abu Sayyaf

The military aims to crush the Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group before the end of 2009, an official said on Sunday.

Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr., chief of the Armed Forces’ public affairs office, said they have taken Malacañang’s decision to junk the proposal to grant amnesty to the Abu Sayyaf as a cue to defeat the bandit group before 2010.

This is not new. Ever since the name Abu Sayyaf had surfaced, a lot of "efforts" has been done by the Armed Forces of the Philippines in collaboration with other authorities aimed at crushing the so-called 'terrorists' but up until now, these groups are not yet terminated. Even the most militarily-capable and powerful nation in the world who has classified the Abu Sayyaf as a terrorist organization for having ties with Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda international terrorist network cannot bring down this group. But why? Is this group that big; bigger than the civilized nations united together?There has been intelligent reports on the location of this groups but why can't the government terminate them. I guess if we are to truly protect the innocent civilians who had become victims of these wars, using the most sophisticated bombs available in the AFP is necessary to annihilate these barbaric terrorists. Another sad fact is that these terrorists seem to be terrorizing only the poor and underdeveloped or even developing countries of the not-so-rich continents.