Setting a bad precedent

Long Island Newsday: The Philippines' hasty withdrawal of troops from Iraq to meet the demands of hostage-takers is an ill-advised move that could have dire consequences for citizens of other nations participating in the U.N. multinational force.
Confronted with the threatened beheading of a Filipino truck driver unless the Philippines' 50 troops were withdrawn from Iraq, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered an immediate pullout -- at the expense of her own reputation and possibly damaging ties with her country's key ally, the United States. Arroyo's decision was roundly condemned by other governments and even in the Filipino press, and rightly so. It amounts to a capitulation to the power of masked thugs -- what no government confronted with the implacable goals of terrorists must ever do.
South Korean contrast
This is the first instance in Iraq of a government making concessions to hostage-takers. It sets a bad precedent and sends all the wrong messages. South Korea, faced with the same threat of a grisly videotaped beheading of hostages, stood firm despite domestic pressure to rescind the planned deployment of troops to Iraq. The South Korean hostage was killed and soon afterward South Korea deployed 3,000 troops to Iraq -- a larger contingent than planned initially. Seoul reasoned correctly that giving in to terrorists' demands would damage the reputation of the South Korean government, encourage militants to capture more foreign nationals and undermine the reconstruction of Iraq. Those were good reasons to stand firm, despite the excruciating anguish that difficult decision brought to the hostage's family.
The precedent Manila set in Iraq is ominous. "We will all pay a price," Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said. "If countries cave in to terrorists' demands, then that only encourages [them] to become more strident and more aggressive toward other countries." Well said. In this age of terror, it's a harsh but necessary warning that must be heeded.