Poverty, injustice main causes of terrorism

Poverty, injustice main causes of terrorism

Kornelius Purba and Rita A. Widiadana, The Jakarta Post, Kuta, Bali

Indonesia has been successfully dealing with transnational crimes
and combating terrorism without much publicity either
domestically or internationally, a senior cabinet minister says.

Coordinating Minister for Security Affairs Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono said on Tuesday that Indonesian was now transforming
its policies into concrete mechanisms and talk into action when
it came to dealing with terrorism and transborder crimes such as
people and drug trafficking.

"Indonesia is still facing various domestic problems and
internal conflicts but we are eager to enhance our cooperation
with regional and other countries in combating terrorism and
other forms of transnational crimes," Susilo said during a speech
to the Third Asian Statesmen's Forum on Tuesday.

The issue of terrorism became one of the major topics
discussed during the one-day forum, which is aimed at enhancing
cooperation among Asian countries.

The forum, the third of its kind, also touched on several
other contentious issues such as the dialog between
civilizations, and environmental and human resources development.

Susilo went further by saying that in the context of regional
security cooperation, the key word was collectiveness, common
endeavor and commitment. Such cooperation, he said, could take
the form of intelligence cooperation, police-to-police
cooperation, and other technical cooperation programs.

"Since the Sept. 11 tragedy, the Asian region, especially
Islamic countries like Indonesia, have come under the
international spotlight as centers of terrorism, something that
is completely untrue," he stressed.

However, he said, the new fear of deadly terrorist attacks
that came to prominence after the September 11 tragedy had
certainly strengthened the emergence of a regional security
awareness that was generally shared by all Asian countries.

Meanwhile, Keizo Takemi, a member of the Japanese House of
Representatives, said there were two issues involved in the fight
against terrorism. One was the need for stronger law enforcement
as regards terrorist activities, while the other was the need to
work for the prevention of terrorism by removing the causes.

"Terrorism stems from division and hatred, and unless
reconciliation between opposing parties coupled with economic
development is achieved, terrorism will continue to receive
support from oppressed people," he added.

Globalization was bringing the world closer but income
disparity was expanding and the perception of unfairness, or
being left behind, left the weaker elements of society with a
sense of despair, which bred terrorist activity.

"September 11 raised anger throughout the world, but there was
also support for Osama Bin Laden in developing countries as he
was seen as a symbol leading the fight against the United States'
domination of the world," Takemi said.

"It is therefore imperative that we deal with the source of
potential terrorist activity," Takemi said.

Surin Pitsuwan, a member of the Thai Parliament, shared
Takemi's views. In his speech on the dialog between
civilizations, Surin stressed the importance of changing the
social structure of the global community.

"The world before Sept. 11 could be divided into two halves --
the rich and poor nations. That's what we call the inequitable
process of globalization," Surin said.

Unfortunately, terrorist activities mostly flourished in
poor and oppressed countries where the people were desperate and
hopeless.

The ongoing war on terrorism, the war over Afghanistan
and everywhere else in the world would only address
the problems on the surface. "We are not addressing the
roots of the problems, only the symptoms."

"Terrorism could be eliminated or at least reduced if
we help these desperate people achieve their dreams,
their potential, and fulfill their basic needs and
basic human rights," Surin said.