Rense.com



CIA Trapped In Its Own
Game In Indonesia

By Kazi Mahmood
Islam Online - South East Asia Correspondent
10-24-2

KUALA LUMPUR (IslamOnline) -- The administration of Megawati Sukarnoputri is paying a heavy toll in the aftermath of the Bali bomb blast that killed 180 people and wounded a large number of tourists in the popular resort of Indonesia, as it is being bombarded from all corners over the numerous failures in the country.
 
The streets in Indonesia are bursting with comments that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has failed to dragged Indonesia in the war against terror, while Solehman Buyung, an analyst working for an online magazine in Jakarta said the CIA "has been trapped in its own game in Indonesia."
 
Their logic is slowly proving to be true, they say, when they comment on news reports in local papers that Taiwan officials had a clue that Bali was going to be blasted into pieces a day before the tragic event.
 
Megawati's government altogether showed signs of splits on the issue of terrorism and support to the U.S. in its war against terror, sparking debates around the archipelago of 212 million Muslims that the moral of the government is sapping, another commentator said.
 
While the western media is scrambling to blame Al-Qaeda for the blast, the media in Indonesia and South East Asia in general is pointing fingers at the CIA.
 
The Berita Harian newspaper in Malaysia gave the first page headline to the news from Taiwan that officials on the Island off China had a hint that the blast would occur but was told by the U.S. not to divulge the information.
 
According to the Taipei Times, the opposition in Taiwan pressed the government of Prime Minister Yu Shui-kun to reveal the information, criticizing it for not giving importance to the lives of Taiwanese citizens who were in Bali at the moment of the blast.
 
In Indonesia the Republika revealed the bomb used in Bali is a C4 and that plastic elements were found in the discotheque that went flames. It said the CIA uses this type of material as well as commandos from the U.S. and some international terrorist groups.
 
The C4 is ten times more powerful than TNT explosives and is very expensive, making it accessible only to rich countries, not countries like Indonesia and groups like those in Indonesia, the Republika said.
 
The Indonesian military (TNI) has also rejected claims that it might have links to the Bali blast with reports saying that a former military aviation officer allegedly prepared the bomb for the blast. The former officer, whose name is withheld, is being interrogated by police the report said.
 
The TNI said it did not possess such plastic bombs, quoting the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency, which said that the C4 was made only in the United States and was used by the U.S. army, or countries that were allied to the U.S.
 
With these developments, analysts in Jakarta say there were grounds for the Indonesian government not to be fouled by the leads given to it by the CIA or the U.S.
 
According to Antara news agency in Jakarta, a group of Muslim lawyers has criticized Indonesian Minister of Defense Matori Abdul Djalil for his allegation that Al-Qaeda and local terrorists were responsible for the Saturday night bombings in Bali.
 
They urged the minister to correct his statement and to prove to them who the local terrorists were. Abdul Djalil said on Monday that the method of the Bali bombings showed the involvement of Al-Qaeda, in cooperation with local terrorists who supplied the necessary logistics.
 
His assertion is supported by news agencies which said Wednesday that traces of plastic in the burnt down discotheque in Bali showed the involvement of the Al-Qaeda in the blast, omitting to say that the C4 originates mainly from the U.S. itself, a political observer working in a University in Kuala Lumpur told IslamOnline.
 
Buyung said that the CIA was missing the point in Indonesia, adding that the U.S. secret service was to be blamed for the Bali blast. "In the 1960s the CIA was a terrific organization and the public was in the dark over the unexplained, such as the death of U.S. president John F. Kennedy.
 
"However now we are living in the age of the Internet, news travels fast and the CIA has proven that it is outdated. It could not predict the attacks on the U.S. on September 11 last year, but it could predict there were international terrorists in Indonesia," he said.
 
 
First published October 16, 2002
Copyright © 1999-2002 Islam Online
All rights reserved





MainPage
http://www.rense.com


This Site Served by TheHostPros