Making Jakarta a home for the wary

Making Jakarta a home for the wary

The images of the burning hotel, and bloodied people lying on the
ground crying out for help, are still fresh in our minds.

After the Marriott blast this week, and the Bali bombing last
year, there is no way that we can say that it can't happen here.
Terrorist bombings have become the fashion in Indonesia in the
post-Soeharto era.

But judging from the response of the government, its security
apparatus and people from all walks of life, it is obvious that
we are still not prepared to deal with the realities of
terrorism.

Minister of Political and Security Affairs SB Yudhoyono said
angrily (I had never seen him fuming on TV), "... maybe you
(terrorists) are laughing now ..."

I think they were indeed laughing, listening to the frantic
reports on the radio, seeing the TV coverage and reading papers
and online news. After all, widespread recognition is their major
means to measure the impact of their actions on the public.

I understand that we need to know the magnitude of the
destruction, but should that carry over into gory, sensationalist
coverage, like showing the charred bodies in the morgue, or a
dead security guard's name tag, before his next of kin could have
been informed?

Talk about the long-term impact of such publicity to the
children. Moreover, all those images may prompt the terrorists to
commit even worse deeds to get a reaction.

As the clean-up operation goes on, what emerges is the
government's focus on "leave it to us" -- let the security forces
take care of things.

Suddenly, security was tightened everywhere, like it took a
terrorist attack to spur people into action. Even so, a friend
told me about how, at one of the most vulnerable office buildings
in the city (think famous initials), women carrying bags are
still allowed to walk past security inspections without being
searched.

But unless our leaders think they can somehow put a soldier or
police officer in every corner of this land, they need to
reconsider and thing about bringing the people on board. We need
training for all citizens to deal with safety and security
issues, from the aftermath of a bomb to flooding.

We do have the tendency to blame intelligence agents following
bomb attacks (maybe we learned this from the Americans, who also
blame their intelligence agencies after the 9/11 and the Iraq
war).

But the central problem is not the intelligence agencies, but
the government. It's the government that has been caught napping
and let these things happen.

This is not anti-Megawati or antiestablishment, nor an
allegation of state-sponsored terrorism.

So, why is terrorism flourishing now?

When you blame our poor intelligence service, you might as
well condemn the government's inability to provide us with
effective security measures. For state intelligence works for the
government, doesn't it?

During the Soeharto regime, we experienced fewer events that
could be categorized as terrorism. But at that time, there was
less overt resistance to the government, too. Any potential
insurgencies would certainly be nipped in the bud. It could be
said to be the "joy" of living in an authoritarian state,
although, if we really think about it, do any of us really want
to go back to that draconian era?

Today, there are 237 political parties ready to take part in
next year's general election. Independent grassroots
organizations as well as non-governmental organizations are
flourishing. And we cannot ask anyone to shut their mouths since
freedom of speech is recognized by the state.

We also have widespread urbanization. Regional autonomy was
supposed to be the panacea to the social woes that come with it,
but still thousands of people flood the city every year after the
Idul Fitri holiday.

There is nothing wrong with people coming here chasing their
dreams, but the local administration does not provide services to
help them. It's that head-in-the-sand attitude that only leads to
more problems of frustrated, desperate people, like the young man
who robbed a taxi driver recently to pay for his wedding back in
his village.

And that in itself creates a breeding ground. "Many
individuals are potential terrorists, but few actually make that
commitment," is my favorite line from American scholar Martha
Crenshaw.

So, perhaps the government needs to think about getting
everybody working together to fight terrorism, and face up to the
fact that the security forces cannot do it alone.

But until our government does something effective, we had
better keep our wits about us.

-- Ivy Susanti