Brig. Michael Hindmarsh (right), Deputy Commander, Special Operations Command, Australian Defence Force, and Australian Special Forces Lt. Col. Gary Barnes (left) listen to a conference speaker.

U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Gregory Trebon, Commander, Special Operations Command, Pacific, hosted PASOC 2004.

Dealing with transnational threats requires considerable teamwork. As Chris Jasparro from the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies Transnational Division in Honolulu told conference attendees, “Transnational threats are incredibly complex. Due to the dramatic improvements in transportation, information technologies, and an ever-changing political and physical demography, terror groups and transnational crime agents may only coexist for very brief periods of time. Ties between terrorists and criminals, when they do exist, are hard to detect and even harder to sever.” Mr. Jasparro added, “It is even difficult to determine if a person is a perpetrator or a victim. Perhaps the individual has no other means to make a living. Therefore, how a government treats that individual is especially precarious. On one hand, strict punishment is warranted, but on the other, strict punishment may drive him and others like him directly into the arms of eagerly waiting terror groups.” But we cannot ignore transnational threats.

Evidence shows that terrorist organizations operate within the same channels as long-standing criminal networks – sometimes by choice, sometimes out of necessity – but no matter the reason, the relationships exist. Col. Jose Vizcarra, Commander, Joint Special Operations Group, HQ Armed Forces of the Philippines, noted, “In dealing with the Abu Sayyaf Group, or ASG, we have learned that the thin line dividing criminality and terrorism has virtually disappeared. Operations against kidnap-for-ransom gangs [have] confirmed the association of terrorists to rebels – most notably in the form of sanctuary-for-money arrangements.”

Maj. Gen. Teramon Roeksbutr, Special Advisor, Royal Thai Army Special Warfare Command, pointed out the same connection to the conference attendees. He said that not only do the narcotics trade and the violence it espouses pose a significant security threat to Thailand, but also mounting evidence shows that narcotics traffickers are selling arms to terror groups – namely in Indonesia.

Col. Jose B. Vizcarra, Commander, Joint Special Operations Group, Armed Forces of the Philippines, addresses the conference on “Terrorism in the Philippines.”

Indian Air Force Wg. Cmdr. Sudhir Kumar Sharma speaks to the conference on “Indian Security Environment; Evolution of Special Forces and Lessons Learned.”