Intelligence failure

Intelligence failure

The bombings in Bali last weekend shocked a nation still
coming to terms with the 2002 terrorist attack on the island. And
the resort island itself was only beginning to recover
economically from the 2002 bombings when tragedy struck again.

Saturday night's bombings not only caused loss of life, but
also the loss of livelihood for many Balinese. The tragedy was
also a blow to a country still reeling from the government's
announcement, just hours earlier, of record fuel price increases.

In the immediate aftermath of the bombings, the finger of
blame was pointed at intelligence bodies and the police for
failing to prevent the attack. This "failure" was highlighted by
the fact that there were prior warnings, of a sort. Even
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono warned in August of potential
terrorist attacks in the coming months.

It is certainly not encouraging that despite claims by the
authorities to have clamped down on terrorist groups here,
limiting their ability to operate in the country, the modus
operandi of Saturday's attack was similar to the bombings in 2002
and subsequent blasts.

Since this latest terrorist outrage there has been much debate
about the effectiveness of our intelligence bodies. One thing,
though, that most people can agree on is the need for fundamental
reforms within the intelligence community.

Indonesia has four national-level intelligence units -- the
National Intelligence Agency (BIN), which coordinates all
intelligence operations in the country, the Military Strategic
Intelligence Agency, the Police Intelligence Unit and an
intelligence unit connected to the Attorney General's Office.

There are also numerous regional-level intelligence units
connected with the military and the police, as well as other
departments.

Current regulations make it difficult for BIN to coordinate
the gathering of information among the varied elements of the
intelligence community.

At the center of the debate over the effectiveness of our
intelligence bodies is the prolonged deliberation of a draft law
on intelligence. Both the government and civil groups have put
forward alternative drafts for the House of Representatives to
deliberate.

Among the most contentious points in the draft submitted by
the government -- drafted by BIN, through the Ministry of Defense
-- is the expansion of BIN's powers, including granting it the
power to arrest people, based on "strong suspicions", believed to
be involved in activities that could threaten national security.

Lawmakers and rights activists have expressed concern that
granting intelligence units such authority could lead to rights
abuses like those that occurred during the authoritarian New
Order regime of Soeharto, when government critics were frequently
arrested to silence them.

Important as the deliberations of the draft intelligence law
are, it is imperative that the intelligence community not get
caught up in the debate, but instead focus all of its attention
on its primary task, which is gathering intelligence.

Intelligence agencies could also help themselves by employing
more sophisticated methods to gather information, rather than
simply relying on the kind of physical presence that caused so
much trauma in the past.

James Bamford, in his book Body of Secrets, describes how
intelligence agencies in the U.S. use sophisticated equipment to
eavesdrop on targets from afar.

Another lesson that can be drawn upon by authorities
restructuring our intelligence community is the reorganization of
the U.S. intelligence services following the Sept. 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks in that country.

Based on the recommendations of the 9/11 commission, the U.S.
government created the office of the National Intelligence
Director, whose function is to coordinate all of the activities
of the U.S. intelligence community.

The National Intelligence Director, who has greater political
leverage than the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, is
directly responsible to the president.

Let us not also forget the established intelligence practices
applied in democratic countries.

In the meantime, it is vital that our intelligence community
work together to identify and arrest all those involved in
Saturday's Bali bombings.

Forget all the debate and arguments; the explosions on
Saturday marked a security and intelligence failure. Any more
failures during the investigation into the attack would demand
that somebody be held accountable, which could very well mean the
resignations of the BIN chief and the National Police chief.