Bombs, bombers and the bombed

By Sidhesh Kaul

JAKARTA (JP): Nothing has changed. Not one bit. Indonesia has been rocked by bombs of varying types and intensities for the last five decades and nobody is listening. Social bombs. Economic bombs. Political bombs. Some were tangible like the July 4th blast at the Attorney General's Office, while others, cleverly disguised under the garb of real politic or populist policies, ticked away silently -- exploding in metered dosages and eroding away the delicate fabric that makes up a civil society.

Be it social, political, economic or a commonplace stick of gelignite -- a bomb is a bomb is a bomb. A bomb is a simple messenger of destruction -- an expression of malevolence in a short span of time.

Typically a bomb has four essential components: a fuse, the explosive material itself, the casing and the guiding mechanism. All four parts are important and their design and construction depends on what is the underlying purpose of the bomb.

The fuse is important, for this is where the bomb comes to life. No fuse would mean no detonation and hence no bomb. A bomb without a fuse is an empty threat. The material of the fuse plays an important part too. A long fuse that burns violently will withstand the onslaughts of the harshest interruptions. A short fuse made from a not so combustible material will leave many doubts in the mind of the perpetrator and also provide ample opportunities for someone else to extinguish it. A long fuse means that the bomb planter has a reasonable chance of getting away once the fuse is lit.

For example, the long fuse of Indonesia's environmental bomb was lit a while ago when the New Order's policies placed the nation's natural resources in the hands of a select few, who then proceeded to rape them in an unfettered manner for personal gain and power.

Or the manipulation of government contracts and tenders that systematically pillaged the country's wealth and established an era of unprecedented corruption, cronyism and nepotism, which, despite several loud and vocal protestations emanating from the current torch bearers of democracy and reform, continues unabashedly to this day.

But sometimes a long fuse makes the bomber complacent. When exiling Pramoedya Ananta Toer to a Gulag during his most productive years (and banning his books in Indonesia and burning some of his unfinished manuscripts), the New Order must have rubbed its hands in glee as it mulled over the thought that it had extinguished the voice of truth for all time to come.

But the stubborn Pramoedya survived the travails and emerged triumphant in the end. Today his books are published and read in hundreds of languages in every corner of the literate world, while the people who exiled him live in shameless ignominy. A long fuse is never a cause for complacency.

A short fuse is nothing less than suicide for the person who lights it. Explosion is instantaneous. Seasoned bombers deploy short-fused bombs on a "remote basis", and it is only the "we-all-go-down-together" desperados, dim-witted bombers or highly motivated people of the kamikaze variety (who have a point to prove and achieve instant martyrdom) who personally light a short-fused bomb.

Sukarno's short-lived romance with the army, Soeharto's several experiments at muffling the voice of democracy, B.J. Habibie's Bank Bali and Timor fiascoes or even Abdurrahman Wahid's new found "love" for communism -- all glaring examples of short-fused bombs.

Explosive material is at the heart of any bomb. The type and quantity of the explosive used depends heavily on the extent of damage that is wished on the target. The moment the burning fuse touches the explosive material the blast is triggered.

Sometimes even a small amount of explosive material can have the same effect as a nuclear bomb of many megatons. Terrorizing the minority Chinese community in 1998 resulted in chaos all around -- expatriates, investors and, of course, the Chinese themselves fled the country and so did reason and stability.

Brutalizing Christians and Muslims in the Malukus recently has been equally effective.

A bomb's intensity is another issue altogether. Of course the more explosive material you ignite, the louder and more destructive is the blast -- but then the bomb becomes heavy and is difficult to ferry around or camouflage. An elegantly constructed bomb carries the least possible explosive payload and does the most damage.

The casing is important too. A well-designed bomb should have a casing that easily disintegrates into many sharp fragments upon explosion and sends tiny pieces of deadly shrapnel flying around for good measure as well, destroying whatever lies in their path blindly and mercilessly.

If the casing is made up of indestructible material then the whole purpose of the bomb is defeated. In a civil society a cocktail of rules, regulations, just governance and representation; a sound, incorruptible and transparent judicial, executive and bureaucratic infrastructure; and a fanatical obsession with egalitarianism, national pride, communal responsibility and the tyranny of law provide the protection against explosives of any kind.

Explosive material that has been shrouded in a strong and protective casing is bound to end up as a damp squib.

Finally, without an effective guidance mechanism a bomb is ineffective and either does little or no damage or destroys wantonly. But there are times when the target is so widespread that accuracy is unimportant and the lack of it is made up for by the sheer intensity of the blast.

The bomb unleashed on ordinary Indonesians by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a prime example. The harsh macroeconomic policies imposed by the IMF upon the Indonesian government in exchange for much needed aid has left the country in ruins. The IMF's stand is like that of the proverbial ostrich that buries its head in the sand when the time of reckoning draws near.

Other than its standard dose of macroeconomic remedies and "cure all" advice on structural changes, the IMF refuses to acknowledge the fact that Indonesia does not have the capacity to repay fully and that their guidelines have driven the government to embark on a path that effectively passes the buck of the economic woes to ordinary Indonesians. This is like igniting a bomb in an ammunition dump.

These four parts of the bomb -- the fuse, the casing, the explosive material and the guidance mechanism -- in the hands of a well-trained bomber, work in harmony and with devastating effect. A good bombmaker designs the bomb according to the size, strength and location of the target and then patiently waits for the ideal time to light the fuse.

A bomb either made or deployed in a hurry is not effective -- good bombmakers know that. Although a weapon of destruction, there are several uses for a bomb. You can use it to quarry, to wipe out a city, terrorize an entire population or even stun fish in the rivers if you are tired of waiting at the end of a fishing line.

Ordinary Indonesians have witnessed and experienced a variety of bombs since Independence but now their patience is being tested to the limit. What the perpetrators fail to realize is that their ultimate targets are becoming fissile and combustible themselves.

The writer is a commentator on economic and political affairs based in Jakarta.