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