Bombs, bombers and the bombed<\/p>\n
By Sidhesh Kaul<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Nothing has changed. Not one bit. Indonesia has
\nbeen rocked by bombs of varying types and intensities for the
\nlast five decades and nobody is listening. Social bombs. Economic
\nbombs. Political bombs. Some were tangible like the July 4th
\nblast at the Attorney General's Office, while others, cleverly
\ndisguised under the garb of real politic or populist policies,
\nticked away silently -- exploding in metered dosages and eroding
\naway the delicate fabric that makes up a civil society.<\/p>\n
Be it social, political, economic or a commonplace stick of
\ngelignite -- a bomb is a bomb is a bomb. A bomb is a simple
\nmessenger of destruction -- an expression of malevolence in a
\nshort span of time.<\/p>\n
Typically a bomb has four essential components: a fuse, the
\nexplosive material itself, the casing and the guiding mechanism.
\nAll four parts are important and their design and construction
\ndepends on what is the underlying purpose of the bomb.<\/p>\n
The fuse is important, for this is where the bomb comes to
\nlife. No fuse would mean no detonation and hence no bomb. A bomb
\nwithout a fuse is an empty threat. The material of the fuse plays
\nan important part too. A long fuse that burns violently will
\nwithstand the onslaughts of the harshest interruptions. A short
\nfuse made from a not so combustible material will leave many
\ndoubts in the mind of the perpetrator and also provide ample
\nopportunities for someone else to extinguish it. A long fuse
\nmeans that the bomb planter has a reasonable chance of getting
\naway once the fuse is lit.<\/p>\n
For example, the long fuse of Indonesia's environmental bomb
\nwas lit a while ago when the New Order's policies placed the
\nnation's natural resources in the hands of a select few, who then
\nproceeded to rape them in an unfettered manner for personal gain
\nand power.<\/p>\n
Or the manipulation of government contracts and tenders that
\nsystematically pillaged the country's wealth and established an
\nera of unprecedented corruption, cronyism and nepotism, which,
\ndespite several loud and vocal protestations emanating from the
\ncurrent torch bearers of democracy and reform, continues
\nunabashedly to this day.<\/p>\n
But sometimes a long fuse makes the bomber complacent. When
\nexiling Pramoedya Ananta Toer to a Gulag during his most
\nproductive years (and banning his books in Indonesia and burning
\nsome of his unfinished manuscripts), the New Order must have
\nrubbed its hands in glee as it mulled over the thought that it
\nhad extinguished the voice of truth for all time to come.<\/p>\n
But the stubborn Pramoedya survived the travails and emerged
\ntriumphant in the end. Today his books are published and read in
\nhundreds of languages in every corner of the literate world,
\nwhile the people who exiled him live in shameless ignominy. A
\nlong fuse is never a cause for complacency.<\/p>\n
A short fuse is nothing less than suicide for the person who
\nlights it. Explosion is instantaneous. Seasoned bombers deploy
\nshort-fused bombs on a \"remote basis\", and it is only the
\n\"we-all-go-down-together\" desperados, dim-witted bombers or
\nhighly motivated people of the kamikaze variety (who have a point
\nto prove and achieve instant martyrdom) who personally light a
\nshort-fused bomb.<\/p>\n
Sukarno's short-lived romance with the army, Soeharto's
\nseveral experiments at muffling the voice of democracy, B.J.
\nHabibie's Bank Bali and Timor fiascoes or even Abdurrahman
\nWahid's new found \"love\" for communism -- all glaring examples of
\nshort-fused bombs.<\/p>\n
Explosive material is at the heart of any bomb. The type and
\nquantity of the explosive used depends heavily on the extent of
\ndamage that is wished on the target. The moment the burning fuse
\ntouches the explosive material the blast is triggered.<\/p>\n
Sometimes even a small amount of explosive material can have
\nthe same effect as a nuclear bomb of many megatons. Terrorizing
\nthe minority Chinese community in 1998 resulted in chaos all
\naround -- expatriates, investors and, of course, the Chinese
\nthemselves fled the country and so did reason and stability.<\/p>\n
Brutalizing Christians and Muslims in the Malukus recently has
\nbeen equally effective.<\/p>\n
A bomb's intensity is another issue altogether. Of course the
\nmore explosive material you ignite, the louder and more
\ndestructive is the blast -- but then the bomb becomes heavy and
\nis difficult to ferry around or camouflage. An elegantly
\nconstructed bomb carries the least possible explosive payload and
\ndoes the most damage.<\/p>\n
The casing is important too. A well-designed bomb should have
\na casing that easily disintegrates into many sharp fragments upon
\nexplosion and sends tiny pieces of deadly shrapnel flying around
\nfor good measure as well, destroying whatever lies in their path
\nblindly and mercilessly.<\/p>\n
If the casing is made up of indestructible material then the
\nwhole purpose of the bomb is defeated. In a civil society a
\ncocktail of rules, regulations, just governance and
\nrepresentation; a sound, incorruptible and transparent judicial,
\nexecutive and bureaucratic infrastructure; and a fanatical
\nobsession with egalitarianism, national pride, communal
\nresponsibility and the tyranny of law provide the protection
\nagainst explosives of any kind.<\/p>\n
Explosive material that has been shrouded in a strong and
\nprotective casing is bound to end up as a damp squib.<\/p>\n
Finally, without an effective guidance mechanism a bomb is
\nineffective and either does little or no damage or destroys
\nwantonly. But there are times when the target is so widespread
\nthat accuracy is unimportant and the lack of it is made up for by
\nthe sheer intensity of the blast.<\/p>\n
The bomb unleashed on ordinary Indonesians by the
\nInternational Monetary Fund (IMF) is a prime example. The harsh
\nmacroeconomic policies imposed by the IMF upon the Indonesian
\ngovernment in exchange for much needed aid has left the country
\nin ruins. The IMF's stand is like that of the proverbial ostrich
\nthat buries its head in the sand when the time of reckoning draws
\nnear.<\/p>\n
Other than its standard dose of macroeconomic remedies and
\n\"cure all\" advice on structural changes, the IMF refuses to
\nacknowledge the fact that Indonesia does not have the capacity to
\nrepay fully and that their guidelines have driven the government
\nto embark on a path that effectively passes the buck of the
\neconomic woes to ordinary Indonesians. This is like igniting a
\nbomb in an ammunition dump.<\/p>\n
These four parts of the bomb -- the fuse, the casing, the
\nexplosive material and the guidance mechanism -- in the hands of
\na well-trained bomber, work in harmony and with devastating
\neffect. A good bombmaker designs the bomb according to the size,
\nstrength and location of the target and then patiently waits for
\nthe ideal time to light the fuse.<\/p>\n
A bomb either made or deployed in a hurry is not effective --
\ngood bombmakers know that. Although a weapon of destruction,
\nthere are several uses for a bomb. You can use it to quarry, to
\nwipe out a city, terrorize an entire population or even stun fish
\nin the rivers if you are tired of waiting at the end of a fishing
\nline.<\/p>\n
Ordinary Indonesians have witnessed and experienced a variety
\nof bombs since Independence but now their patience is being
\ntested to the limit. What the perpetrators fail to realize is
\nthat their ultimate targets are becoming fissile and combustible
\nthemselves.<\/p>\n
The writer is a commentator on economic and political affairs
\nbased in Jakarta.<\/p>",
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