Geoffrey MG's Beyond Wallacia

September 24, 2001: Memo Goodbye Tourists! from Phil, a British expatriate in Singapore: ?What do you make of this news [AFP, Sept 23, 2001, follows] just sent to me from London? Also unsubstantiated report of bomb in Senen today and Brit troops already in Afghanistan. Let us all hope not true eh? Anyway, wanted to pass it on just in case. Stay safe!?

"Indonesian Muslims make hotel checks for Americans: Groups of militant Indonesian Muslims on Sunday showed up at five international hotels in the Central Java city of Solo, demanding to know if any American citizens were staying there ... Detikcom said that the force comprised members of several known militant and hardline Islamic organizations in Solo, including the Muhajedin and Hezbollah forces, the Solo chapter of the Front for the Defenders of Islam, the Al Islah an Jundullah forces and the Hawariyun and Salamah groups ? The spokesman of the operation, Abdul Khoir, told Detikcom that the sweep was just a taste of what was to come should the US attack Afghanistan. Another leader of the operation, identified only as Kalono, said that the move was a sign that Americans should not take their threat lightly ? Nine hardline Indonesian Islamic groups on Wednesday threatened to raid US facilities and expel Americans nationwide if Washington attacked Afghanistan ? On Saturday, hundreds of Muslims held rallies in at least three cities to protest the US threat against Afghanistan ... Indonesian police have deployed hundreds of snipers and crack personnel to guard 17 key United States facilities in the capital in view of rising anti-US sentiment.?

Comment: Although it hosts the largest Moslem community in the world, Indonesia is on the periphery of the Global Moslem Civil War. The first targets of the 'revolutionaries' are Pakistan (out of Afghanistan / into nuclear weapons) and Saudi Arabia (Mecca, Medina and oil). The attacks on the 'west' (NY, DC), 'east' (Buddha statues) and 'south' (Kenya, Tanzania) are no doubt to insult, outrage and provoke anti-Islamic reaction sufficiently violent to polarise Muslims, particularly in Moslem countries.

However it is interesting to identify the local Moslem groups and identities who have already taken up defensive positions in anticipation of such a reaction.

The Solo "hotel sweep" is no surprise. The groups consisted of Laskar Santri, Surakarta Front of Islam Defender (FPI), Jundullah Force, Al Islah Force, Hawariyun Force, Hisbullah Brigade, Salamah Force and several other radical Muslim groups based in Surakarta that joined a similar with-hunt for Americans in the city last year (although I can't quickly remember what that was all about). The bombing at the Atrium in Senen was real ... third attempt (police have previously claimed Malaysian Mujahidin were involved) ... perhaps parallels with the two ?goes? at the WTC-NY. Various sources have quote Afghan war-veterans in Indonesia as between 1500 - 15,000 ... two weeks ago police said five international terrorists groups were known to be operating in the country to ?provoke religious and separatist issues?.

"Ja'far Umar Thalib is the kind of extremist Muslim that Americans fear most. The 39-year-old Indonesian fought in Afghanistan in the 1980s along with Osama bin Laden. He trained at a radical Islamic school in Pakistan. And he supports acts of terrorism against "strategic facilities," including the World Trade Center in New York. Today, Ja'far heads his own armed Islamic group in Indonesia and has thousands of dedicated warriors at his command. If the United States strikes Afghanistan, he says, he and his followers are prepared to retaliate against US targets and civilians in Indonesia. Ja'far's organization is the Laskar Jihad, or "the Militia of the Holy War." ... Western intelligence experts say Laskar Jihad is linked to Bin Laden's global terrorist network, but Ja'far said his group has never had ties to the fugitive Saudi millionaire ... Ja'far said it is possible Bin Laden was behind the attacks on New York and the Pentagon because they required the kind of financial backing he could have provided. He said it also is possible that Bin Laden is operating in Indonesia, as Western authorities contend. "I think that's true," Ja'far said. The deadly bombings of churches in 18 cities last Christmas Eve have sometimes been blamed on Laskar Jihad. Ja'far denied responsibility for the attacks and said they could have been the work of Indonesian terrorists linked to Bin Laden. Ja'far confirmed Western intelligence suspicions that his group has ties to the Malaysian Moujahedeen Group, sometimes known as KMM Jihad, an alleged terrorist group in neighbouring Malaysia," the LA Times reported (September 23).

Former President Habibe's confidante and leading Muslim intellectual, Dewi Fortuna Anwar, startled old contacts at the US embassy when she revealed in a front page interview in the Jakarta Post (September 14) that terrorists driving planes full of hostages into two busy commercial buildings "should give the US a reason to reflect on why such attacks have been perpetrated, which may lead to recognition that maybe some US policies have resulted in a lot of enemies for the US not because people are jealous of US power but because many feel that the US has been unfair." She also explained that the target had been carefully thought out because the WTC is "the symbol of Jewish financial influence in the US".

Over the weekend, less intellectual Indonesians, namely members of the Indonesian Muslim Students Association, demonstrated in Surabaya (East Java) and Palu (Central Sulewesi) against the USA. The protest's coordinator, Ajbar Abdul Kadir called on all Muslims in the country to be prepared for jihad fisabiliillah to help their Moslem brothers in Afghanistan "should the US make good its threat to wage war against Afghanistan," the Jakarta Post reported (September 23). He also called for a boycott on unidentified goods and services. "Buying American or Jewish products means giving them money to make bullets to shoot Muslims," he said.

While the 'revolutionaries' have no love for the ?secular fanatics in the Muslim world? (see Pathetic state of secular Muslim regimes) I suspect the early happenings in Indonesia are stunts in support of the real campaign. However, this being Indonesia, one must expect the unexpected.

The question is how will Indonesia?s elite handle domestic terrorist-sympathisers (particularly those who haven't already embarked on their jihad to Afghanistan to aid the Talibans)?

The past few days ...

"Indonesian experts maintain that Laskar Jihad was actually set up to act as a proxy force by hardline elements in the army determined to destabilize Wahid's reformist administration. As soon as Megawati took office in July, Laskar Jihad suspended its attacks. A spate of mysterious church bombings across the nation also ceased," it was reported in ?Indonesian clerics unfazed by terrorist crisis? (AP/Taipei Times, Sept 23).

Indonesia's President, Megawati Soekarnoputri, met with her American counterpart, George Bush, in the White House's Oval Room amid shadows of the superpower's threats to attack Afghanistan. At the meeting, Megawati reiterated her condemnation to the terrorist attacks to US cities last Tuesday, saying such attacks could never be justified in the name of humanity (Antara). For a ?revolutionary? view of President Soekarnoputri check out Mega agent of USA and Mega backed by Christians.

In her talks with George W Bush, Mrs Soekarnoputri underscored the importance of military ties with the United States to support democracy in Indonesia. "I know that military ties between the United States and Indonesia is still on query. During the talks with President Bush, I noted that improvement in military ties with the United States will strengthen democracy in Indonesia," she said, adding that the Indonesian military is expected to guard the country's territorial integrity as well as its political sovereignty (Antara).

A legislator termed as "correct" President Megawati`s statement committing Indonesia to an international front against global terrorism. Budi Harsono, chairman of the National Defence Forces (TNI)/National Police (Polri) Faction in the House of Representatives (DPR), was commenting on the joint statement issued by Megawati and US President George W Bush in Washington DC calling for a broad international coalition to fight terrorism (Antara).

MPR Chairman, Amien Rais said ASEAN member countries, Australia and New Zealand need to work together to fight terrorism. "The international terrorism networks are so solid and backed by skilled human resources that these countries need to work together to fight them," he said during his meeting with Australian Defence Minister Peter Reith. (Antara). For an 'revolutionary' view of Mr Rais, see Mahathir's war against Islam.

Mr Rais also said Indonesia will help to combat and defeat international terrorism and its people will take little notice of calls for a holy war against the United States. "The Muslims in my country are quite moderate. Even if there are some small pockets of fundamentalist or even terrorists, those are quite insignificant," he told a meeting in Canberra (Radio Australia).

"I hope the plan to send Mujahidin fighters to Afghanistan would be cancelled, as it may only result in destructive action and create misunderstanding towards Islam as a peaceful religion," Islamic activist Al Chaidar said (Antara).

The Global Moslem Civil War has many fronts ... and Indonesia?s role is yet to be fully revealed.

September 15, 2001: The following editorial was received from Afghan News regarding the death of anti-Taliban commander, Ahmad Shah Massoud. The defense minister of the continuing Islamic State of Afghanistan, he was murdered by two Arab suicide-assassins posing as journalists who exploded a camera bomb when interviewing him in his base camp in northern Afghanistan. This occured just two days before terrorists attacked the WTC and Pentagon in the USA. Massoud never recovered from wounds and passed away in a Tajikistan hospital.

The founder of the website is Mr Gary Bowersox, an American gem expert, who received an exclusive license from the Ministry of Commerce of Afghanistan in 1976 to export the famous Lapis-Lazuli gemstone to the United States. During the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979-1989, he worked with the Mujahideen to develop the gem mines in northern Afghanistan to fund their resistence struggle. In 1997, after the capture of the capital, Kabul, by the Taliban insurgents and their Al Qaeda allies, he agreed to support the legal government as it moved to safe haven by accepting an appointment as consultant to the Minister of Mines and Industry.

Continuing his annual visits to the north of the country, he met Afghanistan?s military commander Masood many times, the last being only a week before his assassination:

For 23 years, Commander Ahmed Shah Massoud, "The Lion of Panjsher," fought for the freedom and justice of the Afghan people. His moral and physical courage against unbelievable odds, combined with his brilliant military strategy, made him a legend in his time. He was a true hero to so many people, including me, from the first time I met him in 1988 (Chapter 7, The Gem Hunter), through our last meeting this August. Massoud and his followers were one of the first groups to challenge and repel the Soviet troops during their invasion of Afghanistan (1979).

In 1994, the USA, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia backed the Taliban in their effort to control Afghanistan. Massoud withdrew his troops safely without a fight to some 20 miles north of Kabul, where they still control that line of defense just outside Panjsher Valley.

Osama bin Laden and his followers, desiring a base of operations for their terrorist activities, associated themselves with the Taliban against Massoud's forces in an attempt to control all of Afghanistan. The USA continued to support Pakistan, who maintained the Taliban and who, in turn, supported and received support from Osama bin Laden and his followers.

Now the USA finally recognizes Osama bin Laden and his partners, the Taliban, as true enemies.

Why then does the US turn to Pakistan, with its highly questionable loyalty?

Instead, by honoring Ahmed Shah Massoud's vision and assisting his strong forces and the other tribal commanders already at the battlefront, we could accomplish all our aims: We could enlist the resources of native Afghans in our pursuit of bin Laden; we could defeat the radical forces of the Taliban; and we could foster and support moderate tribes in their bid for a FREE Afghanistan.