I refer to the letter Get help for a pirate-free straits. Richard Teo may be a wee bit confused over the US military's objective in proposing joint operations with Malaysia and Indonesia in the Straits of Melaka.

The Americans are more concerned about the possibility of terrorist actions in the straits - that may result in the blocking of shipping - rather than on issues such as piracy, kidnaping and plunder of cargo ships.

Any terrorist attack and sinking of, say, a giant oil tanker or another huge vessel in the straits would disrupt traffic flow of essential commodities such as oil from the Middle-East to the Far East, particularly Japan, Korea and China, with the possible consequence of a world economic- quake.

In the report Singapore armed forces to focus on technology, says Goh the Singapore prime minister used this announcement to voice his concerns for this threat as the straits represents an important economic 'blood vessel' for the island state.

At the same time, Goh lobbied very forcefully for US military participation in anti-terrorist joint patrols along this strategic waterway by touting the strategic usefulness of the Changi Naval Base.

When Goh suggested that the base "was not for the exclusive use of the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) but also open to friendly countries" it became patently obvious whom he was referring to.

Apart from her own economic interests in the safe and free flow of commercial vessels through the straits, Singapore is the United States' closest ally in this region, with very strong military and intelligence links. There is no doubt that Singapore wants the US to oversee the security of the straits.

On the other hand, Indonesia and Malaysia have predominantly Muslim populations, which regard the US with great hostility since the Afghanistan and Iraq invasions. To make such overt proposals (for joint operations) to these two countries demonstrates again US insensitivity to the domestic politics of this region. A secret or even a low-tone approach to these two countries would have fared far better. But the US. in recent times is not particularly well-noted for its concern towards the needs of other nations.

As for the piracy in the straits, almost everyone knows that this problem may be traced back to Indonesian territory, a haven for these criminals. A combination of factors, including Jakarta's inability to control its outposts plus its prioritisation elsewhere, and Kuala Lumpur's reluctance to offend its big neighbour, has left this known problem festering for decades. Rampant corruption in the Indonesian military has not helped the situation either

Until the Malaysian government is prepared to press this matter with its Indonesian counterpart, and the latter to face up to its international obligations, the disgraceful state of affair will continue for years, as it has for the past two decades.

Inviting the US military into our territorial waters for joint operations on a virtually permanent basis may only add on to an already existing problem, though this time it will be worse than just piracy. Nothing attracts Islamist terrorists like the presence of the US military.

However, the US has one valuable asset that it can contribute to the fight against either terrorist actions or plain piracy.

Intelligence.

Is the US prepared to share this with Malaysia?