Govts' responses to Bali: Part solutions, part problems<\/p>\n
Max Lane, Visiting Fellow, Center for Asia Pacific
\nSocial Transformation Studies, University of Wollongong,
\nNew South Wales, Australia<\/p>\n
On Oct. 14, in the Australian parliament Prime Minister John
\nHoward seized on the terrorist incident in Bali last weekend to
\njustify a further strengthening of repressive "anti-terrorist
\nlaws" as well as of the security apparatus in Australia.<\/p>\n
In this regard he is no different from scores of government
\npower wielders cynically using the sympathy and solidarity
\ngenerated among ordinary peoples when they react in horror to
\nacts of terror. Civilized people everywhere want an end to these
\ncriminal acts and will demand that governments do something.<\/p>\n
But are such government leaders serious? Whether in Canberra
\nor Jakarta, when any social evil emerges, the first step of any
\nserious effort would be to seek out and address the cause of the
\nphenomenon: Why is it happening? Acts of terror do not emerge
\nfrom no where.<\/p>\n
The reality is, however, that all those governments and
\npolitical forces supporting George W. Bush's war against terror,
\nincluding the Australian government, show no interest in
\nidentifying and eliminating the causes of this social evil.<\/p>\n
Of course, to know the cause is not to excuse the individual
\nperpetrators, nor to say that no police measures at all should be
\ntaken. But in the end, no amount of tightened security will end
\nthis trend unless the causes are addressed.<\/p>\n
In fact, heightened security that violates civil liberties and
\nis based on such things as racial profiling will only generate
\nfurther acts of terror.<\/p>\n
Fanatical political, religious, or communal groups did of
\ncourse, not pioneer the use of terror in politics. Terror in
\npolitics was pioneered, and thereby legitimized by states. In the
\ncase of Indonesia, terror in politics was institutionalized by
\nthe Soeharto-Golkar regime that controlled Indonesia since 1965.<\/p>\n
Between 1965-1967 mass terror was carried out on a scale not
\nrepeated until the era of Pol Pot in Cambodia. At least one
\nmillion people were slaughtered, often in public executions. But
\neven after 1968, violence was used to terrorize the population on
\na periodic basis. Indonesians are very familiar with the history,
\nincluding incidents such as the Tanjung Priok incident, the
\nLampung massacres, the "mysterious shootings" (known by the
\nacronym petrus) of the 1980s, the kidnapping and disappearances
\nof student activists in the 1990s are just some examples.<\/p>\n
Since 1998 also, all the major political parties have
\ndeveloped para-military groups, which also use violence and
\nterror to intimidate their rivals.<\/p>\n
The Soeharto-Golkar New Order regime legitimized and spread
\nthe use of violence in politics. All Australian governments,
\nincluding the Howard government, have defended that regime are
\ncomplicit in this legitimization of violence.<\/p>\n
At the same time the Soeharto regime was using terror to
\ncontrol politics in Indonesia, John Howard tried to tell the
\nAustralian and Indonesian people that Soeharto was a "caring and
\nsensitive" leader. Now Howard laments the fact that acts of
\nterror start to hit Australians in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The hypocrisy is mind boggling. Howard should have resigned in
\nshame in 1999. His East Timor policy of acquiescing in the
\nmilitary occupation of East Timor while Soeharto was in power
\nalso laid the basis for the East Timorese people suffering also a
\nwave of horrific terror in 1999. The U.S. government is complicit
\nin the same way.<\/p>\n
Indonesian regimes after Soeharto, including the Megawati
\ngovernment, bear the same responsibility. There has not been one
\nsingle prosecution and jailing of any of those government or
\nmilitary officials responsible for the use of terror under
\nSoeharto. Soeharto himself has not even been charged with
\nviolation of human rights.<\/p>\n
If Soeharto and all the officials of the repression apparatus
\nduring his period can get away with terror as a tool of politics,
\nwhy should anybody be surprised if more elements in society think
\nthat terror is a justifiable means of doing politics. While
\nSoeharto and friends remain free and while major political
\nparties maintain uniformed para-military units, terror, i.e.
\nviolence in politics, will continue to be legitimized.<\/p>\n
Legitimizing terror is not the only form of Western complicity
\nin causes of today's terror. The underlying cause of the spread
\nof non-state terror throughout the world is the deepening social
\ndisintegration of so many societies. This is also beginning in
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
As unemployment and poverty increase and uncertainty about the
\nfuture among 220 million people worsens social solidarity is
\nundermined. A process is beginning of pitting all against all:
\nCenter against region (as with Aceh); regions against center;
\nnatural resource rich regions against their neighboring resource
\npoor areas, such as in the Riau case; ethnic group against ethnic
\ngroup; religion against religion; regency against regency etc.<\/p>\n
This process is a direct result of the crisis since 1997. The
\ncrisis itself is caused by the plunder of the economy, forced
\nopen without protection by the International Monetary Fund.<\/p>\n
Western commercial interests drain the country of wealth and
\ndestroy its productive capacity, even in rice and sugar, while
\nthe local political, business and military elite looks on,
\nacquiescing and enriching itself.<\/p>\n
The elite has no solution to the crisis, except to pointlessly
\nbeg for more foreign investment. In this whole situation,
\nWestern governments, including the hypocritical Australian
\ngovernment of John Howard, are fully complicit.<\/p>\n
So a vacuum is created in the search for solutions. A real
\nsolution is being formulated out of the thinking by the activist
\nand politicized wing of civil society, but they have not yet won
\na hearing among the most people.<\/p>\n
The conditions have thus been created for the spread of
\nscapegoat politics and demagogic agitation. This is the situation
\nnow in Indonesia, as well as globally. Scapegoat and demagogic
\npolitics in a world where the ruling elites and governments have
\nlegitimized violence in politics will inevitably foster the
\nspread of non-state terrorism.<\/p>\n
On the streets of Jakarta, there are many suggestions as to
\nwho the bombers are: Al-Qaeda, or some similar group, local or
\nforeign; the U.S. or the CIA, wanting to create a terrorist
\nscare; the Indonesian military or intelligence services; some
\nelite faction wanting to distract attention away from current
\ncontroversies.<\/p>\n
There is no evidence yet who carried out the criminal and
\nbarbaric act in Legian, Bali. Whoever carried out this act should
\nbe identified and held responsible. But so should those who are
\nresponsible for the underlying causes of this violent world:
\nSoeharto, Howard, Bush, the IMF, Megawati and all those who
\ndefend the unjust and semi-barbaric system the world now lives
\nunder.<\/p>",
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