Indonesia, Australia should work together after Bali bombings

Harry Bhaskara, The Jakarta Post, Berkeley, California, United States

Indonesia and Australia should avoid falling into the trap of the terrorists who perpetrated the Bali bombings and should work together to cool down the rising tension between the two countries, says an academic.

"A rift between Indonesia and Australia is exactly what the terrorists are looking for. Instead of blaming each other over post-bombing measures, the two countries should work together to sort things out instead," Darren Zook, a professor at the University of California who lectures on terrorism, said here last week.

Shattering international solidarity has always been one of the goals of terrorists as part of the post-attack aftereffect, he said, and that included the Oct. 12 bombings in Indonesia's premier resort island that took over 190 lives, most of them foreigners, especially Australians.

Tension between Indonesia and Australia has been steadily rising since Oct. 12, particularly after Australian security officials searched the homes of Indonesian nationals in Australia.

Indonesia's foreign minister Hassan Wirayuda told a House of Representatives' hearing recently that Indonesia would take "stronger action" against its southern neighbor if such raids continued.

The minister, however, did not specify what he meant by "stronger action".

A total of 23 Indonesians were detained and interrogated by members of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO).

Zook said that the two governments should quickly heal the rift and added that both non-governmental organizations and the media could play a crucial role in avoiding further adverse fall- out from the bombings.

"Indonesia's growing NGOs," he said, "could take up the challenge by becoming part of the critical mass in society."

"Heightened distrust both at the domestic and regional levels are all part of the terrorists' post-attack scenario. They want people to blame each other, even name-calling," said Zook, who has been closely monitoring the Australian and Indonesian media since the bombings.

He noted that the Indonesian media had been rife with conspiracy theories regarding the perpetrators of the bombings, something not uncommon in a country where information was not evenly spread. But this needed to be immediately countered by critical thinking.

Carolyn Wakeman, another professor at the University of California at Berkeley, said that the emergence of conspiracy theories was a phenomenon that was not only confined to countries where information was unevenly spread.

"Such a phenomenon also exists in the United States," she said citing numerous examples, including the John F. Kennedy murder and Cuba.

And the phenomenon only became worse after Sept. 11, said Wakeman, who teaches journalism at the university.

Zook also noted the dramatic change in the tone of the Australian media following the Bali bombings.

Prior to the bombings, there were tinges of anti-Americanism in their reporting of Sept. 11, apart from their sympathy for the American people. But after the Bali bombing, it was all sympathy.

"It was an about-face. Prior to the Bali bombings, there was almost always a hint in their reporting about 9/11 that the United States should somehow take a close look at its foreign policy, and should get rid of its arrogance," Zook said.

Terrorism has always sought to sow public distrust in society, he said, citing Al-Qaeda as an example, which he said usually kept silent after an attack in order to create a climate of uncertainty, fear and suspicion.

Zook said the whole nation should support the Indonesian police, who were working hard to build up public trust, by, among other things, presenting the suspects to the public and press.

Asked about the police's preliminary findings linking alleged local perpetrators with Al-Qaeda operatives in the region, Zook said he thought the police had been moving in the right direction.

"Bali has been a perfect target. It's like a territorial claim," he said referring to the fact that the holiday island is predominantly Hindu.

The writer is a visiting scholar at the University of California at Berkeley.