`Bali attack result of internal politics'
Supalak Ganjanakhundee, The Nation, Asia News Network, Bangkok
Visiting American Indonesianist Benedict Anderson said here on Thursday that internal political affairs were more likely behind the Oct. 12 Bali bombing than international militant groups such as al-Qaeda.
Private conversations in Indonesia these days rarely mentioned that the bombing was commanded by al-Qaeda, said the professor who recently returned from Indonesia.
Al-Qaeda, founded by Saudi-born millionaire Osama bin Laden, mostly attack American interests due to Washington's support for Israel, and its operational areas are in or near the Middle East where there are plenty of the U.S. interests, he said.
"Bali is neither of political nor economic importance, and killing young Australians does not make sense in al-Qaeda's point of view," said Anderson at a seminar hosted by Five Area Studies Project at Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre.
Anderson, nevertheless, supported arguments that Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), the regional terrorist group, was responsible for the Bali blasts.
JI has deep roots in Indonesian history. Some of its members originally fought against the Dutch colonialists in the 1940s, he said.
"The history of extremist Islamic Indonesians began long before Osama Bin Laden was born," he said.
The professor from Cornell University suggested that Indonesian state apparatus, notably the military, used to be involved in many acts of terrorism in the country.
Deposed authoritarian ruler Soeharto founded the Komando Djihad in the 1970s as a "black operations" unit to fight communist movements, he said.
This unit had been involved in many terrorism style acts of violence in the country, he said. Some members of the unit were privatized in order to help create violence for the commercial or political gains of certain groups.
The C4 explosive used by the bombers in Bali is an American product and is usually used by Indonesian military engineers and the Red Beret Special Forces (Kopassus), Anderson said.
The masterminds behind the Bali bombing may be part of a military faction that used to control East Timor and wanted to hit back at Australia, which supported the territory's drive for independence, he said.
They would also be the ones who would benefit from reinstalling the military to the central position in Indonesia politics, he added.
"It [Bali bombing] is not an international conspiracy by al- Qaeda but is to do with domestic politics, especially this military group which has a long experience in black operations, he said. "Terrorists, in the case of Indonesia, can be found within the state apparatus."