It is all up to Islam

The call for Muslims to sort out terrorism within Islam is the right one, and a need that is long overdue. Sensitivity must now be replaced by reality, less the world sees that Islam cannot and will not sort out its own internal problems. It is arguably the most pressing of all world problems, as no positive action will likely create a stronger and more determined militant off-shoot of Islam that will throw this world into perpetual conflict that could well escalate beyond our immediate imaginations. It is that serious.

Tolerance and understanding of how difficult that task will be has already been displayed over a long period of time, but the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) seems (as always) to be so torn apart and divided by so many issues that there is a clear danger of the organization doing very little to quell this unwanted violence. Its inability to agree would indicate that the more moderate Islamic nations must take the bull by the horns and act on their own.

That is somewhat similar to what the U.S. did in Iraq when faced with the United Nations that was totally split, and irrespective of how people feel about that issue, the fact remains that collective bodies have too many individual agendas to be effective.

Indonesia clearly has the added incentive of knowing that militant Islamic groups are doing their level best to create further instability within these islands, and that is happening because the Indonesian government is understandably very sensitive to this problem and fear a likely Islamic backlash. In this respect, the most important thing to be remembered is the duty of the government to protect its people against elements that solely wish to use violence to destabilize the country no matter the cause.

For those expatriates that have been here for a while, one of the things that is noticeable is that very little goes on in Indonesia without someone watching, and if that is true, then the people themselves can significantly contribute in a kind of neighborly watch organization. Call it spying if you like, but better than another bomb in Jakarta or elsewhere in Indonesia.

DAVID WALLIS, Medan, North Sumatra