Posted on 03/19/2006 6:28:09 PM PST by mdittmar
The visit to Indonesia by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has refocused the region on the fight against terrorism. Most of her public remarks were generalities, but officials in Indonesia, Thailand and the region were more specific. Ms Rice correctly stated the Indonesian anti-terrorism successes. In Thailand, too, where one of the greatest concerns is the potential for involvement of foreign terrorists in the volatile South, officials were taking important steps to face the insurgency.
Ms Rice cited Indonesia as a world success story, and it is. Steady, aggressive police and intelligence work since the October 2002 Bali bombing has made clear progress. There have been setbacks, and likely will be more. But Indonesia and regional allies have basically destroyed the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) group. The leadership, lines of command, communications and foreign contacts of the JI organisation no longer exist. Dozens of JI members have been arrested. Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand _ notably the arrest of JI commander Hambali in Ayutthaya _ have destroyed the JI structure.
As always, there is an unintended consequence. The most radical, violent JI survivors now operate on their own, perhaps independently as "freelance jihadis". They are more difficult to find or monitor. Many have fled to the chaotic jungles of the southern Philippines. The second Bali bombing last year was carried out by previously unknown radicals.
Indonesia has shared intelligence and sought regional cooperation on a problem involving the most-wanted JI leader, Noordin Mohammed Top. The Malaysian recruiting specialist barely escaped the government ambush last November which killed compatriot Azhari bin Husin, the group's top bombmaker. Documents he left behind proclaimed Top as the leader of ifTanzim Qa'idat al-Jihadnf, or Al-Qaeda Jihad Organisation. Four months later, experts are not even sure if there is such a group, let alone its status. One possibility, since the name is almost identical to a group headed by Jordanian terrorist Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq, is that Top is making an idle boast. Another is that he has organised such a group, and even has the physical backing of Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda, which always had supported JI.
Around the region, officials are investigating this possible new threat. It was already known that Indonesian radicals were recruiting both criminals and young suicide bombers. The former presumably would raise funds through crime.
The success of recruiting suicide bombers continues to decline however. A recent poll showed that 98.5% of Indonesian Muslims opposed suicide bombing for any reason. On the other hand, radicalism continues. A group of 600 Islamists recently demonstrated in Jakarta to call for an Islamic caliphate, or direct rule by a descendant of the prophet Mohammed.
The label given to such a group or person is hardly important, since their programme speaks for itself. It is untrue, as some maintain, that one man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter. Former prime minister Anand Panyarachun led an international reform group to devise a simple and effective definition of terrorism. Despite the support of Secretary-General Kofi Annan and most reasonable people, apologists voted down the effort. This shameful international obfuscation, however, neither ended terrorism nor can provide an apology or legalistic hideout for terrorists.
While Thai politics consumed most of the public's attention, authorities took several important steps about the South recently. The government told the National Security Council to help to found a college to help to train imam and Islamic teachers _ and 300 imam gathered in Pattani to show support. Another group of Muslim youngsters were brought from the South to observe Bangkok. The Pattani United Liberation Organisation claims all Thai Muslims were "kidnapped" from the South over the past century, an outrageously divisive statement the southern students can now quickly refute. Such non-military steps are vital to halting the southern insurgency.
Regional terrorists have a goal beyond bombing, destroying and dividing. The terrorism aims to intimidate decent people, and allow that Asian caliphate to be established, stretching from the Philippines to Bangladesh, through Thailand. Not every radical supporter is a terrorist or supports terrorism. But many do, and trying to use a different name does not change their appearance.
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