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Palu violence hurts RI's image Aleksius Jemadu, Bandung Each time terrorists kill innocent people in markets, churches, cafes or hotels they dehumanize their own existence to the level of social outcasts. Whatever justification they might have in the Palu bombing on Dec. 31, 2005, is beyond the grasp of human conscience. The taking of other people's lives through merciless killing like this clearly indicates the spiritual poverty of the perpetrators even when measured by the most atheistic standards. The selection of the bombing location tells us that the attack had been planned as security authorities focused most of their attention on the protection of houses of worship and other public buildings. On top of that, the terrorists had calculated that only people from a certain socio-religious group would be present in the market, which sells pork. The singling out of Christians as a target in a terrorist attack constitutes a certain political message not only for security authorities but also for the Indonesian public. A series of terrorist attacks in Central Sulawesi over the last few years follow an established pattern in that the victims are mostly from a certain religious group. This does not necessarily mean that the heart of the matter is an interreligious conflict. In fact, both Christians and Muslims should avoid such a conclusion as it could help the terrorists accomplish their objective of creating agitation. However, the continuous victimization of the Christians should justify some sort of preferential protection by the security authorities. The terrorists will continue to provoke the existing religious groups until it reignites new waves of interreligious conflict. Thus, it is very likely that the same mode of operation will be repeated again in the near future. In an effort to defend the police against mounting criticism, the National Police chief Gen. Sutanto argued that the local police had done their best to protect churches and other religious buildings during Christmas and new year holidays. However, the public remains doubtful whether or not the local security officials have answered questions regarding the social networks and activities of the terrorist groups throughout the province of Central Sulawesi. There is no credible information how, for instance, the security authorities have conducted counter-intelligence measures in order to prevent any attempt to carry out a bomb attack. Repeated bomb attacks of the same modus operandi should have sharpened the intuition of the security authorities to monitor and conduct surveillance of the suspicious activities of the terrorist groups. It would be a great liability on the part of the security authorities if until now they have no idea about the mapping of the security situation in Central Sulawesi. Since the killing of Azahari on Nov. 9, 2005, in Malang, East Java, the Indonesian government has consolidated its strategies in dealing with terrorist and militant groups. The government seems to realize that in overcoming the terrorist threat the police should be supported by the Indonesian Military (TNI) as the latter has extensive experience in collecting and analyzing intelligence data concerning terrorist activities in Indonesia. At the societal level the Ministry of Religious Affairs plans to send a team with the main task of countering the spread of militant ideas which have inspired some youths to blow themselves up in order to go to heaven. It is not yet clear to what extent the government has taken concrete steps toward the realization of such a plan. On the part of the terrorist groups the Palu bombing provides a clear message that they are still capable of conducting a deadly attack especially in the conflict areas. It is high time that local security authorities become more pro-active in conducting their security measures and facilitate the participation of local religious leaders so that the terrorist groups can easily be identified. It was also disclosed in the media that the terrorist groups want to introduce new tactics by kidnapping high government officials and their family members with the aim of weakening the government's determination to carry out its security measures. With the relative progress of democratic consolidation, Indonesia has been regarded as a model where Islam as the religion of the majority of the people can co-exist with democracy. The international leaders have greeted this development with great enthusiasm and expressed their willingness to support Indonesia's new-found identity through political and economic assistance. Now that the exploitation of religion for terrorist activities has taken root in Indonesia, both the government and the people should stand firm to oppose any attempt to tarnish the positive image that the nation has managed to rebuild after the collapse of Soeharto's authoritarian regime in 1998. The writer is Head of the Department of International Relations and Head of the MA Study Program in Social Sciences at Parahyangan University Bandung. His field of research focuses on civil and internal conflict. He can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED] . printer friendly [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Clean water saves lives. 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