RI must stop denying presence of terrorists, says Wolfowitz

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz urged Indonesia on Tuesday to stop pretending that it does not have a terrorist problem, warning that al-Qaeda's prime target was Indonesian democracy, Agence France-Presse reported.

In an interview with CNN, Wolfowitz said the government in Jakarta was more serious and focused about the problem since the terrorist bombing in Bali.

But, he said, "I still think there are a far too many Indonesians who haven't quite heard the call yet," he said.

"In many ways, the prime target is Indonesian democracy," he said. "This is not the kind of government that al-Qaeda wants to see governing the Muslim world."

"They'd like to create the kind of economic misery, the kind of divisions between Indonesia and the West that can lead to ultimately turning Indonesia into the worst kind of Islamic state," he said.

"They have a long, a very long way to go if they're going to succeed, because that's not the way Indonesian people are. But they, I think, are prepared to kill hundreds of thousands of people to try to achieve that goal," he said.

Wolfowitz, a former U.S. ambassador to Indonesia, acknowledged that the government faces a tough challenge in balancing civil rights with security. "So I think we need to be careful about preaching to Indonesians," he said.

"At the same time, I think they should stop being in denial and stop pretending there's no terrorist problem and stop pretending that this is just something the Americans invented and get on with developing good, solid democratic methods for dealing with these people," he said.

In a different interview with an Indonesian TV station, Wolfowitz said that Indonesia was up to the challenge in balancing the struggle for democracy with the fight against terrorism.

The American Forces Press Service, which carried the interview, said Wolfowitz used the opportunity to reiterate the point that America is not an enemy of Islam, terrorists are.

Wolfowitz, who served as U.S. ambassador to Indonesia under the Reagan Administration, invoked those close personal ties in getting his message across to Indonesia.

"If Indonesians don't do something to stop terrorism in Indonesia, it's going to have really terrible consequences for democracy in that wonderful, important country that I love so much," Wolfowitz said.

He said it's a shame the United States constantly has to defend its actions when this country has such a strong history of defending and aiding Muslim populations.

"The United States, I believe over many years and particularly in the past 10 years, has regularly gone to the aid of oppressed Muslim populations.

"I don't think we've got something to defend in our record."

Wolfowitz cited U.S. military interventions to assist Muslim populations in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Somalia, and noted the United States fought the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War to liberate and defend Kuwait from Iraq's Saddam Hussein.

He also said millions of Muslims in Afghanistan are better off because the United States helped overthrow the Taliban regime in that country.

"No one ever said that we were fighting for Islam when we did that, but we happened to be defending Muslim populations.

"It is the terrorists who are the real enemy of Islam.

"It's their very perverted, extreme, distorted version of the religion that they're trying to not only use as a justification for killing Americans and killing Westerners, but also the justification for subjugating Muslims."

Another aim of terrorist organizations is to drive a wedge between democratic Muslim nations, such as Indonesia, and their friends in the West, he said.

"It is, I think, very noteworthy that you can read now on al- Qaeda websites elaborate justifications and glorifications of the killings in Bali," Wolfowitz pointed out.

He said Indonesia faced a challenge all democracies face, to effectively fight terrorism and still protect the civil liberties of its people. This is complicated because the terrorists use the freedoms of democracy to hide their goals of undermining democracy.

"Their theory probably is that if they can increase the level of misery and desperation in this country with such a heavy Muslim population, they hope to gain more recruits for their rather evil cause," Wolfowitz said.

The TV program's interviewer pointed out to Wolfowitz that some pundits in Indonesia have suggested the United States is responsible for the Bali attack.

Wolfowitz vehemently dismissed the suggestion.

"That is just totally unbelievable fantasy," he said. "I can't believe that anybody rational actually believes that. The evidence is so clear that al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden and the terrorist organizations that are connected to them have been behind a whole series of horrible attacks on innocent people and they claim credit for it.

"In fact," he added, "if you go to some of their web sites, they're boasting about the attacks in Bali. It's inconceivable that this was done by the United States, and I can't imagine anybody informed or educated believing that."