Lesson from Tentena

Lesson from Tentena

Aleksius Jemadu, Bandung

The Tentena bombing on May 28, 2005 occurred while President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was trying to convince the United States
government and foreign investors that they had good reason to
trust his security policies. Soon after the bombing the People's
Consultative Assembly's Speaker (MPR), Hidayat Nur Wahid, made a
statement that the terrorist attack was a slap In the face for
the President.

The timing of the President's visit to the U.S. and the
Tentena bombing has fueled much speculation. Some people link the
bombing to the closer bilateral relations between Indonesia and
the U.S. while others put it down to the incompetence of the
Indonesian security authorities.

When Susilo won the presidential election last year, many
expected that he would at least provide some sort of effective
leadership the country so badly needed to restore Indonesia's
credibility abroad. Western leaders expressed their enthusiasm
and promised to cooperate with him in security and economic
fields. People might think that the general's previous experience
as coordinating minister for security and political affairs could
add to his credentials.

Notwithstanding President George W. Bush's warm welcome at the
White House, from the very beginning Susilo was a bit embarrassed
by the fact that almost at the same time the U.S. government
announced a temporary closure of its embassy and several
consulates in Indonesia for security reasons. While everybody
knows that the U.S. always protects the security of its officials
and citizens at all costs, the timing of the announcement could
have a profound psychological implication for Susilo.

As far as President Susilo is concerned, it seems that he has
little to worry about in terms of domestic political support. Not
only was he elected by a quite convincing majority of popular
votes, his popularity has also been on the rise due to the
seriousness of his government in eliminating corruption.

Therefore, his main challenge is how to mobilize international
resources to support his ambitious domestic agenda of economic
development. The President eagerly wants to substantiate his
popular mandate with something that makes his constituents
realize that he deserves their trust.

The timing of the Tentena bombing and his visit to the U.S.
has put Susilo in a serious policy dilemma. At the domestic level
he has to respond to a variety of segments of society, ranging
from those who are enthusiastic about his economic diplomacy to
the radical groups who might consider his visit to the U.S. as a
form of unwanted surrender to the will of the superpower.
Susilo's journey to success remains rocky and at the same time
the political forces trying to discredit his government have
given a clear warning that they are ready to risk everything in
order to accomplish their political goals.

The following suggestions can be used as policy input for the
government.

First, any terrorist attack is by nature aimed at crushing the
spirit of the political authorities it seeks to destroy. The
government should maintain a high level of determination to
eliminate all forms of terrorist activities.

Second, the Tentena bombing is yet further evidence that the
terrorist groups have tried to exploit religious conflict in
various regions in order to accomplish their political goals.
Therefore, the government should have a clear agenda with respect
of violence in the name of religion.

Third, the clandestine nature of terrorist activities can only
be dealt with a high quality intelligence service. Intelligence
information gathered by the police, the National Intelligence
Agency (BIN) and the Indonesian Military should lead to an early
and accurate detection of any possible terrorist attack.

Since the terrorist attacks that have occurred several times
in Indonesia have been of a similar type, the security
authorities should have learnt from the previous incidents how to
constantly monitor the activities of the terrorist groups. On top
of that, there is a need to control the proliferation of
dangerous explosives so that they do not fall into the hands of
extremists or terrorists.

Last but not least, the increasingly machiavellian nature of
Indonesian politics could lead to the exploitation of the issue
of terrorism for partisan interests. Therefore, it is of supreme
importance that those who hold top positions in the Indonesian
security structure are non-partisan and committed only to the
interests of the whole nation.

The writer is head of the Department of International
Relations at Parahyangan Catholic University in Bandung. He can
be reached at aleks@home.unpar.ac.id.