Not only terror

Not only terror

Just to freshen our memories, the bomb blasts in Medan
resemble the one at Istiqlal Mosque (in Jakarta) in April last
year. Subsequently, the cathedral in Jakarta, state television
station TVRI and several other offices in Jakarta also received
bomb threats. Then, a bomb was found under the pedestrian bridge
in front of Bank Indonesia on Jl. Thamrin. Until now, the
perpetrators have not been found. Only the Istiqlal bomber has
been tried, but the identity of the actual brains behind the
operation has not been revealed.

We do not know whether or not the two cases are linked. It is
the duty of the police to find the church bombers in Medan. From
the authorities' comments, however, it can be concluded that this
was the work of trained professionals. Furthermore, considering
that the targets chosen were churches when a congregation was
present, he or she must be used to the sight of blood. The
objective was not merely to sow terror, but to destroy.

We do not want to see a repeat of the Istiqlal case, where the
authorities only managed to arrest the executor but failed to
uncover the intellectual actor. Plain common sense tells us that
the bombing in Medan was part of a well-planned, systematic and
organized design. What we do not know is whether it was designed
to improve the bargaining position of certain parties in a number
of cases that are currently public issues, or whether it was a
diversionary tactic to draw the public's attention away from
those issues.

-- Republika, Jakarta