A 'pansus' on Marriott?<\/p>\n
Last week's bombing of the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Jakarta once
\nagain exposed a big flaw in the state's intelligence capability
\nto anticipate and prevent a terrorist attack in this country,
\nthis time hitting straight at the heart of the nation's capital.<\/p>\n
When Bali was devastated by three bombs last October, many were
\nwilling to forgive the police and the nation's intelligence
\napparatus for this lapse. After all, just over a year earlier,
\nterrorists managed to penetrate New York and Washington D.C.,
\noutwitting undoubtedly the most sophisticated intelligence system
\nany country in the world could ask for.<\/p>\n
But can we seriously forgive them the second time around after
\ntheir latest lapse with the Marriott bombing? Perhaps, but not
\nthat easily. Definitely not until there is an independent
\ninvestigation into the police and intelligence work.<\/p>\n
This inquiry, or pansus (special task force), whoever decides
\nto take it up, must ask two related questions: Just exactly how
\nmuch did they (the police and security apparatus) know about this
\nimpending attack, and just exactly what measures did they employ
\nto prevent it?<\/p>\n
A number of events in the lead-up to the Aug. 5 bombing
\ncertainly suggested that the police and intelligence community
\nhad been, or should have been, aware that something like this was
\ngoing to happen.<\/p>\n
The arrests of a number of people believed to be connected
\nwith Jamaah Islamiyah, a regional terrorist organization
\nresponsible for the Bali bombing, a month earlier, should have
\nraised alarm bells.<\/p>\n
Police seized a cache of explosives in the Central Java city
\nof Semarang during one of these raids, and learned that some
\nexplosive materials had already been sent to an undisclosed
\nrecipient in Jakarta. When one of the JI suspects committed
\nsuicide, that too could have been a signal that this person knew
\nso much of an attack plan that he decided to take his own life.<\/p>\n
There was every reason to believe that the police and our
\nintelligence service had done their best to uncover a terrorist
\nplot in the wake of the arrests of suspected JI members. But
\nsometimes, their best is not enough. Besides, this is something
\nthat an independent inquiry would be able to establish.<\/p>\n
Remarks by a senior police officer and the top man at the
\nState Intelligence Body (BIN) since the Marriott bombing have not
\nhelped to dispel our doubts that the authorities knew much more
\nthan they are willing to admit. This then leads to the question:
\nIf they knew so much, had they really done their utmost to
\nprevent the attack?<\/p>\n
There was a remark by Brig. Gen. Gories Mere, a senior officer
\nat the National Police, given to ABC on Thursday, in which he
\ndisclosed that the police had prior information about the
\nbombing. He told the Australian TV network that police had
\nintercepted an e-mail message from a certain Asmar to another JI
\nsuspect in which he said he was going to "marry," the JI code
\nword for bombing.<\/p>\n
A police spokesman quickly refuted Gories' statement as
\nuntrue, without venturing to give a further explanation. However,
\na day later, the police did identify the suspected bomber, whose
\nsevered head was found at the bombsite, as that belonging to
\nAsmar. This alone suggests that Gories had not been far off the
\nmark when he talked to ABC.<\/p>\n
Then, there was the statement by BIN chief Hendroprijono a few
\ndays after the bombing, as reported by Antara, in which he said:
\n"How can we prevent a certain action from taking place if we know
\na suspect but cannot make an arrest?" It is unclear whether
\nHendro was making this statement as part of his campaign to give
\nmore teeth to BIN, or whether he was trying to signal that the
\nauthorities had known quite a lot about this terrorist attack,
\nbut lacked the power to act or prevent it from taking place.<\/p>\n
It is also disturbing to learn that many senior government
\nofficials are now calling for the introduction of draconian
\nlegislation similar to Malaysia's or Singapore's Internal
\nSecurity Act as a way of dealing with the threat of terrorism.
\nHas it not occurred to them that the problem is not so much the
\nlack of legislation, but more the incompetent, probably
\nuncoordinated, work of our many intelligence agencies?<\/p>\n
An inquiry into the Marriott bombing would reveal where the
\nlapses in our intelligence occurred and hopefully give us clues
\nas to the kind of remedial action that is needed to fight
\nterrorism more effectively.<\/p>\n
The threat of terrorism can only be dealt with effectively
\nthrough better and more efficient intelligence. There is no doubt
\nthat we need to improve the capabilities of the various
\nintelligence forces. A thorough and independent inquiry into the
\nMarriott bombing would be a good starting point.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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