U.S. Embassy responds

In the midst of the terrible tragedy perpetrated on the United States, we have been heartened by the outpouring of expressions of condolence from President Megawati Soekarnoputri and other Indonesians of all walks of life and all religious faiths. We also greatly appreciated the expressions of deep condolence and support for eradicating terrorism in The Jakarta Post's editorial of September 13.

Thus, we were deeply disappointed to read the comments of some senior Indonesian Government officials and commentators in the September 13 and 14 editions of the Jakarta Post that we fear could create an atmosphere of misunderstanding and hatred, rather than one of compassion and healing.

In your article on page 2 of the September 13 Jakarta Post, headed "U.S. warned against blaming Islamic groups for attacks," the individuals cited in this article unfortunately did not express condolence for the victims of these cruel and cowardly attacks. Instead, they preferred to criticize unjustifiably the ongoing investigation of this horrible crime that U.S. law enforcement officials have already promised will be fair, thorough and unprejudiced.

Their comments betrayed a lack of understanding of the origins and prevailing nature of the majority of today's international terrorism, which, as Indonesia knows only too well, knows no nationality or borders. Indonesians have been the victims of terrorism in their own country and at least one Indonesian lost his life in Tuesday's terrorist attack in the United States. Last year, I tried to set up a briefing on international terrorism for one of the individuals quoted in your article, Juwono Soedarsono, when he was still the Minister of Defense. He did not express interest.

Even more disturbing were the anti-Semitic and misinformed comments of Dewi Fortuna Anwar, reported on the front page of the September 14 Jakarta Post under the heading "Act together to prevent violence." Her comments suggest that the terrible acts against Americans and even acts of terrorism within Indonesia may be justified. Terrorism threatens all of humanity and can never, ever be justified.

That interview, and also comments in a page two article on September 14 headed, "RI leaders ask U.S. to exercise restraint," further imply that the United States Government is blaming Muslims for these terrorist acts, which is simply not true. The fact is that the United States seeks to bring the perpetrators to justice on the basis of solid evidence, without rancor towards any race or creed. The community of nations, including Muslim nations such as Pakistan, has already expressed its strong support for the efforts to bring these criminals against humanity to justice. Some of America's strongest allies and closest friends are Islamic nations. Muslims, Christians, Jews and people of other religious faiths are all valuable threads in the American social fabric, and Americans denounce prejudice against any religious group.

Unfortunately, some individuals and groups have misused religion for grotesque and cruel purposes and past terrorist actions have frequently been the work of fanatical religious groups. Tuesday's attacks in the United States were both massive and sophisticated. Only a few organizations in the world have the sophistication, the knowledge and the financial resources to instigate such a series of horrendous terrorist attacks. Those groups are well known to Indonesian authorities, just as they are to authorities in the United States.

A beautiful tradition of all religious faiths is the expression of condolence in the face of tragedy. We have received moving letters and floral tributes from so many Indonesians of all religious faiths. Regrettably, none of those interviewed for the articles mentioned earlier have expressed their condolences to us.

President Bush has pledged that the United States will conduct a thorough investigation of this heartbreaking tragedy and bring those who perpetrated or abetted it to justice. Meanwhile, we hope that all Indonesians will join us in mourning the loss of the lives of innocent people and condemning these attacks and all terrorist actions, and will work with us in trying to eradicate the scourge of terrorism from the face of the earth.

ROBERT S. GELBARD

Ambassador,

U.S. Embassy

Jakarta