Indonesia and the United States: A re-energized relationship
Indonesia and the United States: A re-energized relationship
S.P. Seth, Sydney
What has impressed the United States most about Indonesia,
leading to the lifting of the ban on military ties, is the
unwavering commitment of the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono government
to fight terrorism. The killing of Azahari Husin, the mastermind
of the Bali and other terrorist bombings in Indonesia, was its
most concrete and dramatic proof. Noordin Mohammed Top, who is
believed to be the top recruiter for potential suicide bombers,
might not be able to escape the police dragnet for long.
The Susilo government is engaged in a multi-pronged attack on
terrorism. It has decided to involve the military in combating
terrorism by activating "the territorial command to the village
level..." Its advantage is its vast reach in terms of information
and intelligence gathering, thus shrinking the space for
terrorists to mingle and hide among the people. Its drawback is
that it would have the potential, over a period of time, to
degenerate into political witch-hunting and creating a general
climate of fear.
On the question of terrorism, though, an encouraging
development is the government's decision to co-opt the country's
Muslim clerics into fighting terrorism by stripping it of its
misplaced religious authority. A task force of prominent clerics,
including leaders of Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, two mass
organizations with an estimated 70 million members, will
undertake to confront terrorism ideologically, including looking
into the teaching curriculum of Islamic schools (pesantrens)
prone to radical views. As Ma'ruf Amin, the head of the team, has
said, "We will clarify these ideas with pesantrens, especially
those alleged to have indications of influences from radical
terror views."
As Erwin Mappaseng, a senior retired police officer, has
rightly pointed out, "It is difficult for police to catch
terrorists here because a lot of people are sympathetic to them;
some people even see them as heroes. So this is the job of our
leaders, of our Muslim scholars and imams to explain to them the
true teaching of Islam. We have to take a comprehensive
approach."
Talking of a comprehensive approach, another important task
for the clerics might as well be to confront communal violence
plaguing parts of Indonesia. The recent example of it is the
gruesome beheadings of some young girls, apparently because of
their religion. A lot more people have died in communal violence
in Indonesia from 1999-2000 than in terrorist attacks, both
horrible crimes. It should rouse the collective conscience of the
nation and a concerted effort at all levels to deal with it
effectively.
Even in terms of fighting terrorism, it makes sense to deal
simultaneously with communal hatred and violence because, in some
ways, it is the nursery of the terrorist ideology of pitting one
religion and culture against another.
There are many reasons contributing to terrorism. An
underlying factor in all is a sense of helplessness and
marginalization-of not making much headway in pursuit of life.
When a large number of people suffer from this sort of social
disconnection, mostly due to poverty and unemployment, they
become easy target for extremist message.
Only a tiny minority, though, will take to terrorism (which is
enough to create chaos and mayhem), but many more might become
sympathetic bystanders simply because they feel a sense of
bizarre elation in their otherwise hopeless existence.
Therefore, a comprehensive approach to terrorism would need,
at some point, to create a sense of hope among the mass of its
people. As a start, for instance, Indonesia can launch some
employment generating infrastructure projects with helpful
assistance from the United States and other rich countries and
global financial institutions. It will not just be a token
exercise because, as part of Indonesia's future economic growth,
an updated and expanded infrastructure base is an essential pre-
requisite.
Another worthy cause will be community development programs in
rural areas to help farmers with new techniques and materials to
enrich farming. India did it on a large scale, starting in the
fifties. Though it was at times bogged down in bureaucratic
bungling and corruption, but it did produce some remarkable
results. The point is to create new areas of economic activity to
energize the nation, so that terrorism doesn't look like
occupying disproportionate attention.
Returning now to the lifting of the ban on military ties by
the United States: This is a new development with important
implications over time for Indonesia's foreign and security
policies. As of today, the primary U.S. objective is to enlist
Indonesia, which has the largest Muslim population in the world,
in its fight against terrorism. But it would, in time, have other
strategic objectives; chief among them to contain China's
expanding regional profile and role.
As South East Asia's largest nation, Indonesia is an important
regional country. This gives it added weight in regional
organizations like the Association of South East Asian Nations
(ASEAN), Asia Pacific Economic Conference (APEC) and the upcoming
East Asia community (an East Asia Summit is scheduled this month
in Kuala Lumpur).
Indonesia will, therefore, figure importantly in the emerging
regional power games between China and Japan, and between the
United States (with Japan as its ally) and China. According to
Sean McCormack, a U.S. spokesman, "The Administration considers
the relationship between the United States and Indonesia, the
world's third-largest democracy, to be of the utmost importance."
The U.S. will have other expectations from Indonesia, beyond
just combating terrorism, in due course of time. How will
Indonesia balance its steadily growing relationship with China
and its re-energized ties with the United States, would remain to
be seen?
The writer is a freelance writer based in Sidney and can be
reached at SushilPSeth@aol.com.