U.S. warned against blaming Islamic groups for attacks
U.S. warned against blaming Islamic groups for attacks
JAKARTA (JP): The U.S. government, still devastated by
Tuesday's terrorist attacks, is cautioned against pointing the
finger at militant Islamic Middle East groups until it has
substantial evidence.
Local observers said that the American habit of attributing
terrorism to particular religious or ethnic groups was dangerous
because it unfairly stigmatized Islam and the Middle East.
Juwono Sudarsono, an international affairs observer, and Sidik
Djatmiko, a political observer from Muhammadiyah University in
Yogyakarta, recalled that the U.S. was wrong when it publicly
accused Middle East groups of bombing an Oklahoma office block in
1995.
The bomber turned out to be a homegrown terrorist who vented
his anger on what he perceived was the U.S. government's
capitalist policy which neglected the poor.
"The important thing is that they (U.S. officials) should wait
until the investigation is completed and the perpetrators of the
crime are brought to justice," Juwono said.
Sidik said the U.S. government should leave the habit of
blaming terrorist attacks on its interests on Middle East groups.
"Blaming militant Middle East Islamic fighters could not only
be misleading but may also embarrass the U.S. if the accusation
turns out to be unsubstantiated," he said.
He pointed to the Oklahoma bombing by an American ex-
serviceman as proof of how wrong American perception about
terrorism could be. This could be the case with the latest
terrorist attacks.
"The Oklahoma bombing was carried out by an American
psychopath and had nothing to do with Middle East hard-liners. It
is unfortunate that the U.S. government has never apologized for
implicating Muslim hard-liners before any investigation had even
begun."
Sidik, who is chairman of the university's Middle East Affairs
Studies, said the U.S. always looked for a scapegoat for anything
that threatened its security.
Mochtar Mas'ud, an international affairs observer from Gadjah
Mada University, said it would be hard to theorize who might be
responsible for the latest attacks because the U.S. had many
enemies due to its major role in world affairs.
"It would be naive to hastily blame Islamic groups for the
attacks. It's possible that the masterminds come from countries
like Cuba, Asia, Africa or even international crime syndicates,"
he said.
Whoever the perpetrators may be, he said he believed they were
people opposed to American policies, such as those on human
rights and democracy in other parts of the world.
"For example, the U.S. has adopted double standards in
handling the Israeli-Palestinian issues," he said as quoted by
Antara.
Aisyah Amini, a House member from the Muslim-based United
Development Party (PPP) stressed terrorism must be condemned but
she urged Washington not to accuse any group before it conducted
an investigation.
"The American government should track down the terrorists,
arrest them and find out why the attacks happened and learn from
the experience," she said.
Military analyst from the Centre for Strategic and
International Studies (CSIS), Kusnanto Anggoro, expressed concern
over hints of U.S. retaliation by President George W. Bush.
He theorized it would not be easy to identify which group the
perpetrators may belong to.
He said that in the U.S. alone Osama bin Laden's organization
has some 22 cells and each was very autonomous. "Each cell can
make its own decision without agreement from Osama. Therefore, to
ascertain who is ready responsible for the incident would be very
difficult," he added. (02/09/pan)