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.