October 16, 2007:
Terrorist organization Jemaah Islamiah (JI) is still believed to have
about a thousand members. But the most well known, and most dangerous, ones are
largely in exile, trying to avoid capture in the Philippines, Malaysia and,
possibly, Pakistan and other places. Those still in Indonesia are keeping
quiet, even though most of them are of the less radical branch of the
organization, that opposed the terror bombing campaign that more radical
factions began in response to the September 11 attacks. The hundreds of people
killed in those bombings brought about the near destruction of JI, and was a
major setback for Islamic conservatives in Indonesia. This is a country that
was never very hospitable to Islamic militancy in the first place, and when
Islamic radicals opted for terrorism and murder, they lost the support of most Indonesians.
October 10, 2007: The defense treaty with Singapore
has been suspended. The deal was to have allowed Indonesia to extradite corrupt
officials seeking sanctuary in Singapore. In exchange, Singapore could use
Indonesian military training areas. But this became a hot issue in Indonesia,
where the presence of Singaporean troops was seen as insulting. So Singapore
has made a deal to use more distant Indian training areas.
