Philippines to pull out of Iraq

While I understand the decision, it's something that I find very difficult to agree with. I can't help but feel that it's never okay to acquiesce to the demands of terrorists. Of course, I'm not the one who has to decide whether or not to sentence a man to death, so it's easy for me to say that.

On the face of it, it seems like the right decision - after all, the humanitarian troops were going to be withdrawn in a month anyway. The problem is that it sends entirely the wrong message... whatever happened to 'We will not negotiate with terrorists'? There's a reason that it is an international policy - giving in on even the smallest points encourages terrorism as a legitimate form of protest.

I know that's a simplification - we have negotiated any number of times with representatives of terrorist organisations (like the IRA, for example). But still, there's a difference between using diplomatic talks to attain some kind of mutual understanding and giving in to direct terrorist demands. It's all to do with the big picture.

In the short-term, this decision may save one life... but I can't imagine that in the long term it will do anything but put innumerable others at risk.