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.