The threat of terrorism

The threat of terrorism

The reaction by many politicians and organizations to recent
reports about threats of international terrorist attacks in
Indonesia has reached unhealthy proportions, especially with the
latest claims that these reports were nothing more than American
propaganda. The United States has become the target of many
condemnations this past week because the source of the reports
have apparently come from there, or more specifically, from
leaked Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) documents.

But this American bashing, which now seems to be a favorite
pastime for some politicians, is not helping the situation. Apart
from unnecessarily straining relations between our two countries,
it is diverting attention away from the core problem, which this
nation should really be addressing: dealing with the threat of
terrorism.

American media publications last week reported a confession
made by a certain Oman al-Faruq to the CIA about impending
strikes on American targets in Indonesia around the time of the
first anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United
States. Faruq was arrested in Indonesia in June and handed over
to the U.S. authorities because apparently he was a suspected
member of al-Qaeda, which Washington blames for the 9/11 attack.

As it turned out, his confession was the basis of what
Washington called "specific and credible information" in ordering
the closure of American diplomatic missions in Indonesia and
several other Asian capitals around Sept. 11. The media reports
also stated that Faruq claimed to have planned a plot to
assassinate President Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Also last week, the Singapore and Philippine governments came
out with reports on the activities of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI),
which they said was acting on behalf of Southeast Asia's al-Qaeda
network, or at least had close links with it. The reports pointed
at Indonesia as the origins of some of the leaders of JI, whose
final goal was to turn the region into their version of a grand
Islamic state. This information apparently came also from the
confessions made by suspected terrorists in the Philippines and
Singapore, including a number of Indonesian nationals.

The United States, Singapore and the Philippines, as well as
Malaysia, have all taken firm steps to deal with the threat of
terrorism. Whether or not Faruq's confession is credible,
Washington was acting in its own interests when it ordered the
closure of its diplomatic missions in Jakarta and elsewhere in
the region.

While a dose of criticism against Washington and its policies
on the terrorism issue are merited, excessive indulgence would be
detrimental to our own national interests. Some leading
politicians have responded to the chain of events by indulging in
conspiratorial theories of an American plot to undermine
Indonesia. It is even more unfortunate that some of these
theories are gaining currency among the public.

It would have been better if the energy and resources had been
spent to look into the real, rather than wrongly perceived,
problems that this country faces: That terrorism is a clear and
present danger, and that we as a nation have yet to determine how
best to deal with the threat.

Instead of ridiculing Faruk's purported confessions to the
CIA, Indonesia would have done well to investigate them. Instead
of repeatedly denying the presence of the al-Qaeda network in the
country, the authorities would have done well to take heed of the
reports about the activities of the operatives and organizations
allegedly linked to the group.

The threat of terrorism is too serious an issue to be dealt
with lightly the way some politicians would have it. Indonesia,
of all the countries in the region, should know this, having been
at the receiving end of terrorist attacks ourselves in recent
years, albeit by local rather than international groups.

Indonesia has not come up with a firm plan on how it will
handle the threat. As an emerging democracy, it will have to deal
with the issue without trampling on the rights of those suspected
to be part of the international terrorist network.

The way the authorities arrested Faruq and handed him over to
the United States raised serious legal questions. Irrespective of
his nationality -- Kuwait has denied that he was one of its
nationals, while his Indonesian wife in Jakarta insisted that he
hailed from eastern Indonesia -- the authorities should have made
sure that his legal rights were fully respected.

Indonesia no longer has the draconian law similar to the
internal security act that Malaysia and Singapore invoke in
arresting suspected terrorists without putting them on trial. But
that is all the more reason for the Indonesian authorities to be
more vigilant about the activities of those suspected to be part
of an international terrorist organization.

The last thing we want is to revive the subversion law that
allows the government to make an arrest without a trial. History
everywhere has shown that such powers would only be abused, which
would make the state not all that different from the terrorists
themselves. And from our own experience over the last 40 years,
state-sponsored terrorism is just as bad, if not worse.