U.S. Embassy responds

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