Indonesia looking for expanded military ties with India

(Indonesia intends to improve military ties with India, especially for an enhanced joint patrol with the Indian Navy, a senior Indonesian naval official said)

The Economic Times – Indonesia intends to improve military ties with India, especially for an enhanced joint patrol with theIndian Navy, a senior Indonesian naval official said here today.

“We are going to have a navy to navy talk on improving military ties and on other fields such as education and training of personnel. We look forward for escalating both navies involvement in the IND-INDO CORPAT,” Commander Amrin Rosihan told reporters on board KRI Sutanto. [Click here for full article…]

Syrian Conflict Draws Indonesian Jihadis Into Fray: IPAC

A man gestures near a damaged car at a site hit by what activists said were barrel bombs dropped by government forces in Aleppo’s Dahret Awwad neighborhood on Jan. 29, 2014. (Reuters Photo/Hosam Katan)

Jakarta Globe – Indonesian extremists have turned their attentions to the Syrian war, a bloody two-year battle soaked in sectarian division and apocalyptic prophecy, as radical Islamist groups push for a two-pronged “global jihad” to establish an Islamic caliphate in the Middle East, a new report by the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict read.

“The conflict in Syria has captured the imagination of Indonesian extremists in a way no foreign war has before,” the report, titled “Indonesians and the Syrian Conflict,” read. “For the first time, Indonesians are going overseas to fight, not just to train, as in Afghanistan in the late 1980s and 1990s, or to give moral and financial support, as in the case of Palestine.”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs estimates that at least 50 Indonesians have joined the estimated 8,000 foreign nationals fighting in Syria. The emergence of non-Syrian fighters, which include ex-mujahideen from Afghanistan and Al Qaeda-linked militants, has thrown the situation in Syria into a deeper state of chaos as rebel groups fighting to topple the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fight both alongside and against members of violent terrorist groups waging a holy war of their own.

The Indonesian radicals, many members of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terrorist network and its affiliated Islamic boarding schools, may have been inspired by the popular book “The Two-Arm Strategy;” which argues that the upheaval caused by the Arab Spring provided fertile ground for a two-pronged jihad in Yemen and Syria — both sites of religious and historical significance.

The war’s sectarian lines have also stoked anger in Sunni-majority Indonesia where scenes of violence against Sunni Muslims by Assad’s Shia Muslim loyalists received regular coverage in by domestic media outlets. The anger, combined with a reluctance by JI — the organization behind the 2002 Bali bombings — to stage further attacks on Indonesian soil and the religious connections between the Syrian war and several hadith on the Islamic doomsday, might inspire more Indonesians to join the war, the report read. [Click here for full article…]

Indonesia, Radical Islam & America’s Pivot to Asia

RealClearDefense – Political Islam is on the rise in Indonesia and rising alongside it is the country’s importance to U.S. national security. As the pendulum of American attention swings toward Asia in a calculated “pivot” aimed at countering shifting realities in the regional power balance, a familiar foe deploying equally familiar and sinister tactics threatens to destabilize this key partner in the vitally important Southeast Asia region: Islamic extremism.

While the shift in American resources and attention to Asia may be driven by broader geopolitical and economic interests, as outlined in the president’s national security strategy, the threat of domestic religious radicalism and terrorism remains real in Indonesia. Without strong leadership, this internal threat will have a profound impact on Indonesia’s ability to be the strategic regional partner the U.S. needs it to be.

A wide-ranging partnership between the U.S. and Indonesia will be crucial to ensuring peace, stability, and an equitable balance of power in the region, but Indonesia must first be stable domestically to fulfill its partnership role regionally and internationally. Consolidating democratic principles and institutions, eradicating government corruption, and electing strong leadership through free and fair elections are the building blocks Indonesia must establish to defeat religious extremism, ensure domestic stability and effectively participate in a partnership critical to both our national security interests.

Islamic extremism is not new to Indonesia. Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations have taken advantage of our vast archipelago nation of 17,000 islands and porous borders to use as a base of operations since the fall of the dictatorial Suharto regime in 1998. Many experts also believe much of the terrorists’ ideology is homegrown rather than imported from abroad. However, despite several potent terrorist acts in the years following September 11^th, Indonesia has remained committed to being a secular society. And the moderate, pluralistic, and inclusive beliefs of the world’s largest Muslim population have held the growth of Islamic radicalism in check – until recently. [Click here for full article…]

Saudi Arabia, Indonesia ink defense cooperation agreement

On target: Saudi Deputy Defense Minister Salman bin Sultan Abdul Aziz Al Saud aims an MP5 submachine gun at the Army’s Special Forces (Kopassus) shooting range in Cijantung, East Jakarta, on Wednesday. Indonesia and Saudi Arabia have cooperation agreements on counterterrorism, military training and the defense industry. (Courtesy of Kopassus)

Jakarta Post – Saudi Arabia and Indonesia on Thursday signed the first defense cooperation agreement (DCA) covering training and education, counter-terrorism efforts and the defense industry.

The DCA was signed by Saudi Deputy Defense Minister Prince Salman bin Sultan Abdul Aziz Al Saud and his host Lt. Gen. (ret.) Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin at the Defense Ministry.

Sjafrie told reporters after the signing that the DCA was the first signed since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1950. It is also the first that Indonesia has signed with a Middle Eastern country.

“This is the first time a Saudi deputy defense minister has visited Indonesia,” he said.

He said both countries agreed that terrorism affected nations across the globe. The deputy defense ministers also agreed that terrorism should not be linked to any ideology, in particular to Islam.

“No religion in the world teaches violence,” Sjafrie said.

Recent terrorist incidents have painted a bad picture of Islam. Saudi Arabia is one of the countries damaged by terrorism threats, the Indonesian Defense Ministry said in a press release.

Saudi Arabia and Indonesia have suffered from numerous attacks linked to certain Islamist groups. [Click here for full article…]

TNI gears up, sets sights on foreign threats

Jakarta Post – As the Indonesian Military (TNI) begins to perceive the growing threat from other nations, it is accelerating efforts to strengthen deterrence by overhauling its structure to allow for faster troop deployment, expanding the Marine Corps and procuring long-range offensive weaponry.

In what is expected to be among President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s most far-reaching military policies, a regulation is planned for June on the formation of defense groups under joint-command, locally abbreviated as Kogabwilhan.

The plan will integrate the regional resources of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force into multi-service groups that will be positioned in certain defense flashpoints integral to preserving the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

“But the function of the Kogabwilhan will not be limited to that. It will also serve as a deterrence to other countries as the command will have the flexibility and the needed resources for rapid deployment,” said Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro recently.

Each Kogabwilhan group will be equipped with its own fleet of warships, jet fighter squadron and Army units. Each group’s commander, a three-star general, will be given the authority to respond without having to go through the red tape at the TNI headquarters in Jakarta. [Click here for full article…]

More Conflicts Feared in Election Year

A woman in Tangerang screams as riot police gather to monitor communal unrest arising from fraught local elections last month. (JG Photo/Fajrin Raharjo)

Jakarta Globe – When a child was killed and six buildings razed to the ground on Monday in West Manokwari district in the province of West Papua, in a clash between neighboring communities, it barely registered in the national media because of how commonplace such incidents had become.

It was the last local-level conflict reported in 2013, when such incidents increased by nearly a quarter from 2012. And if the government continues to overlook them, analysts warn, the number could rise even higher this year, with a correspondingly high death toll.

Neta S. Pane, the head of Indonesia Police Watch, a nongovernmental organization that monitors security and law enforcement, said at a discussion in Jakarta on Thursday that the potential for even more clashes was high this year because of the legislative and presidential elections in April and July, respectively.

He said that last year, his organization had recorded 153 community clashes throughout the country, or a 23.7 percent increase from 2012.

“As a result of those conflicts, 203 people were killed, 361 people were injured, 483 homes were damaged and 173 buildings were set on fire,” he said.

In 2012, he noted, the death toll was 154, with 217 people injured.

Neta attributed the increase in the number of clashes and the casualties to the lack of action by security forces to prevent the violence from breaking out or quell it once it had erupted.

“From the sheer number of cases that we saw last year, it’s quite clear that the police’s intelligence-gathering efforts have been quite weak. Their ability to detect threats ahead of time isn’t functioning as it should,” Neta said. [Click here for full article…]

Indonesia strengthens security ahead of Christmas

Global Times – The Indonesian national police gears up for tightening security during Christmas and New Year Eve partly due to possible terrorist threat during the events, National Police chief General Sutarman said in Jakarta on Friday.

The general disclosed as many as 92,000 policemen, 16,982 personal of armed forces and 35,473 security guards from government offices or institutions would be dispatched during this time.

The police chief said that the precaution against terrorist threat has been one of the top priorities during the events.

The hike of supervision would be done for 10 days, before and after the events which involving mass gathering, the police chief said.

“From December 23 to January 1, the police will hold an operation along with other stakeholders for 10 days,” said Sutarman.

The mass gathering during the Christmas and New Year Eve has been one of main targets of militant strikes in Indonesia. [Click here for full article…]

Extremist Groups in Indonesia Weak, But Violent, Says Report

An armed paramilitary police guards the site where a police officer was shot and killed outside Jakarta following days of counter-terrorism raids on Aug. 17.

Wall Street Journal – Extremist groups in Indonesia have grown weak and fragmented in recent years, due in part to arrests and killings of suspected terrorists by the country’s counterterrorism police. But that weakness could be driving Islamic militants toward more violence, says a recent report by a Jakarta-based think tank.

According to the report by the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict, radical groups in Indonesia that lack training and religious credentials see violence as their only means of gaining legitimacy.

“This may explain why we have more terrorist plots today than in the past, even if most of them fail,” the report states.

Indonesia is a Muslim-majority country with a secular government and largely moderate religious views.

Violent extremists operating today are not the threat they were a decade ago, when Indonesia saw several large-scale terrorist attacks, starting with a nightclub bombing on the resort island of Bali in 2002 that killed more than 200 people, mostly foreigners.

That lack of capability means the violence occurring today is much more like ordinary crime, which makes the potential for any large-scale attack almost unthinkable, the report said.

Still, the authors remain concerned about terrorism continuing in Indonesia. [Click here for full article…]

Terrorism in Indonesia Weak, For Now: Report

Muslim militant group leader Badri Hartono looks on at the West Jakarta court on June 27, 2013. (AFP Photo)

Jakarta Globe – Terrorism in Indonesia has been reduced to “low-tech, low-competence, low-casualty attacks” by weakened groups — but could shift up to a more deadly threat if Indonesians fighting in Syria return home with greater professionalism, a new report says.

“Weak groups need to prove themselves,” said Sidney Jones, director of the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict, the author of the report “Weak Therefore Violent: The Mujahidin of Western Indonesia.”

“This may explain why we have more terrorist plots today than in the past, even if most of them fail.”

The international connections and skill sets of terror network Jemaah Islamiyah have been dispersed as counter-terrorism authorities successfully dismantled the group.

Government data show 75 attacks between 2010 and 2013 — a significant rise on previous years — but they have been largely ineffective and the last three suicide bomb attacks killed only the bombers.

“It is reassuring that most of the would-be terrorists in Indonesia lack international experience and international connections, but the longer the Syrian conflict continues, the greater the chances that more Indonesians will get involved,” the report read.

Terrorism in Indonesia is now characterized by low-skilled militants who may feel that violence is the only way to gain legitimacy, but do not possess the wherewithal to carry out a large attack.

Instead, attacks on the police have become more frequent, with several shootings and stabbings of officers in Jakarta’s satellite cities this year. The report indicates that militants may be targeting police out of vengeance for the high number of terrorists that have been killed during police operations.

While President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono suggested earlier this year that the military could assume a role in the hunt to root out the country’s militants, Jones says the task should remain the province of the police. [Click here for full article…]

SBY Sets Ambitious Food Security Targets

A farmer holds a handful of rice stalks at a paddy field in Karawang, Indonesia’s West Java province June 13, 2013. (Reuters Photo/Beawiharta)

Jakarta Globe – The government has set a range of new food production targets in a bid to reduce dependence on imported commodities and stabilize food prices.

From his official Twitter account on Wednesday, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono elaborated on the targets, which were partly prompted by price upheavals due to extreme weather impacting harvests overseas.

“The action plan to increase food production will center on five main commodities,” Yudhoyono said in his online statement, naming corn, sugar, rice, soy and beef. He added that cooperation between government and the private sector would be key.

“It is hoped that by next year, an integrated effort by the central government, regional government and the industry can be achieved.”

According to the statement, the government hopes the country will achieve 41 million tons of milled rice production by next year, and by so doing accumulate a 10 million ton surplus of the staple.

By comparison, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) predicted in July this year that Indonesia’s 2013 rice production would reach 69.27 million tons of unhusked (paddy) rice, barely changed from 2012’s 69.06 million tons. This amount would be roughly the same as 39 million tons of milled rice, according to expert estimates. That means Yudhoyono’s 2014 target represents a modest 5 percent increase over the past years’ production.

As for the commodity used to produce the country’s favorite protein staples tofu and tempeh, the newly announced target for soy production in 2014 has been set at a very ambitious premium to the 2013 production estimate of 847 thousand tons.

“Soy production next year can be targeted at above one million tons,” Wednesday’s statement said.

Such an increase of at least 18 percent would be an impressive achievement, given 2013 production is expected to grow by less than 1 percent on 2012’s harvest. [Click here for full article…]

Scholars, intellectuals endorse Prabowo’s bid

The Jakarta Globe – A group of university professors and intellectuals announced on Wednesday its collective endorsement of Gerindra Party presidential candidate and chief patron Prabowo Subianto, giving the retired army general another moral boost ahead of the upcoming presidential election. Former Bandung-based Padjadjaran University rector Yuyun Wirasasmita, who read the group’s endorsement during a gathering […]