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Why They Hate Osama

September 17, 2007: The collapse of support for Islamic terrorism was not just an Indonesian thing. Throughout the Islamic world, the al Qaeda terrorism in Iraq, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Afghanistan has turned public opinion against the Islamic militants, and leaders like Osama bin Laden. The loss of popular support has made it difficult for Islamic terrorists to recruit and operate. That is particularly true in Indonesia, which was never very enthusiastic about Islamic radicalism to begin with. Meanwhile, even the ethnic unrest among Melanesians (who are often Christians) in eastern Indonesia, is dying down. Newly independent East Timor continues to fester, but mainly for economic reasons. There is no functioning economy in East Timor, thus few jobs and lots of anger over the situation. As a practical matter, the wars in Indonesia are over. There are still some Islamic terrorists running around, or, more commonly, away from the police. There are still some ethnic separatist rebels in Papua. But natural disasters, like earthquakes, are killing more people than man made terrorism.

 
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Chuang Shyue Chou       9/17/2007 9:38:28 PM
"That is particularly true in Indonesia, which was never very enthusiastic about Islamic radicalism to begin with."
 
Seriously? Could you please tell me your sources for this?
 
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gf0012-aust       9/17/2007 11:56:41 PM
 
The bulk of the indonesian population are moderates.  like any society though, they have their share of a vocal fruitcake fundamentalist minority.
 
 
 
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Chuang Shyue Chou       9/19/2007 12:40:58 AM
Moderates not prone to violence, yes, that is true. However, anti-Americanism amongst the moderates? Well, it's prevalent. These ra-ra right-wing positive and upbeat articles, I really don't know. Most accounts that I have read have spoken of large moderate grassroots movements which are very anti-American in nature with some advocating a greater Islamic worldwide political entity like that of the Caliphate. And amongst moderates, they are usually in support of Osama and anti-Bush/anti-Iraq War sadly. The majority of the surveys that I have seen reflect that. 
 
As for fanatics, there are over 280 million Indonesians, almost on par in population with the USA and even if 0.01 percent are fanatical, well, it would be ghastly.
 
I am sure you know of JI and the many Islamic schools in Indonesia...
 
Sam Harris' book 'The End of Faith' questioned the validity of the term 'Islamic moderates' and he went on to show that the Islamic moderate is either a lapsed Muslim or nonexistent. Quite a good argument really. And in my encounters with a lot of these moderates, well, almost all were anti-American in attitude Not pro-terror but they do see nothing wrong with acts of violence against Americans and Israelis.
 
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