Terrorists among us

It is hard to understand why anybody would want to kill and injure innocent people and complete strangers. But somebody must have derived a twisted pleasure in seeing people, their bodies and faces covered in blood, fleeing in fear from the scenes of the two bomb attacks in Bali on Saturday night. It is sickening to think that there are people who get their kicks by setting off bombs in restaurants and cafes, with the intention of killing and maiming complete strangers, including children, who just have the bad luck of choosing the wrong place to get something to eat.

But we have learned by now that terrorists have sick minds that are beyond comprehension. Sadly, these people exist among us, and they struck again this weekend.

The death toll from Saturday's explosions -- two in open-air cafes on Jimbaran beach and one inside a restaurant in Kuta Square -- had reached 25 by Sunday afternoon. Dozens others were being treated in Bali hospitals, some in very serious condition.

It is not the first time that terrorists have struck in this country. Still, each attack is a tragedy in itself.

The bombings on Saturday are a personal tragedy for the people who were killed and injured, and for the loved ones they left behind. They are a tragedy for the people of Bali, whose tourism- based economy had only just recovered from the devastation of the 2002 bombings. And they are a tragedy for the nation because we continue to live in fear and with the knowledge that there are terrorists in our midst.

This latest attack lays bare the ineffectiveness of our intelligence institutions and our police. There had been no prior warnings, not even from the usual foreign governments advising their citizens to stay away from Indonesia. Making this failure even more difficult to comprehend, the police were already on the alert for protests following the government's decision to raise fuel prices by an average of 126 percent on Friday.

The only public warning came from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who in August cautioned of possible terrorist attacks in September and October. But even as late as last week government officials were saying that the threat from Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), blamed for most of the terrorist attacks in Indonesia in recent years, had been brought under control. While it is too early to point the finger at anyone, Saturday's attacks in Bali bear all the hallmarks of JI.

For a nation that has unfortunately experienced numerous terrorist strikes over the last few years, such a security and intelligence lapse is unacceptable. Indonesians, especially those living in Bali, should be able to expect at the least that the government get its act together.

Police have yet to arrest the two Malaysian bombmakers, Azahari Husin and Noordin Top, who allegedly planned the 2002 attack in Bali and several bombings in Jakarta. Their arrest should be the main priority of Gen. Sutanto, the chief of the National Police since July. His job security, along with that of Syamsir Siregar, the head of the National Intelligence Agency, should be tied to his handling of terrorism, and more specifically to the arrests of Azahari and Noordin.

Someone should be held accountable for this latest intelligence lapse and the continuing failure to arrest the two most wanted men in the country. If Sutanto and Syamsir are not up to their jobs, they should be replaced.

Condemning the bombings in the harshest of terms the way President Susilo did on Saturday night does not relieve him of the duty to protect the lives of the people in this country, whether they be Indonesian nationals or overseas tourists. The President, and his security advisers, must do more to ensure that this is the last terrorist outrage in this country.