[lit-ideas] More on Indonesia Radicalism:

1.  Three Christian Girls beheaded on their way to a Christian School: 
http://jihadwatch.org/archives/008755.php

2.  The Laskar Jihad was formed in Indonesia in 2000: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laskar_Jihad:  The article includes the following: 
"Between May 2000 to December 2001 an estimated 10,000 people were killed and 
hundreds of thousands had to flee their towns as Laskar Jihad burnt indigenous 
Melanesian Churches and communities on Ambon and other Moluccas islands as well 
as Christian communities in Sulawesi."  Here is a BBC article written about the 
Laskar Jihad in 2000: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/770263.stm .  
Here is a Timeasia.com article on Indonesia's "Dirty Little War."

3.  A Time article on "Indonesia's Dirty Little Holy War" 
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,187655,00.html  which begins, "It 
was a wave of terror, hundreds of men in black-and-white robes and black face 
masks storming into one village after another on the island of Sulawesi, firing 
their automatic weapons, tossing Molotov cocktails and homemade grenades into 
houses and shouting at the terrified residents to get out, to never come back, 
and killing anyone who resisted."

4.  An article entitled Bali And Indonesia's Jihad: 
http://cryindonesia.rnc.org.au/archives/bali_indo_jihad.htm  Which includes the 
statement: 'Moderate' Islam is in danger of being swept into the radical tide, 
IF the propaganda from the radical end of town starts to take root and people 
perceive the United States and others as being 'anti-muslim'.

5.  Here is symposium on the Indonesian Jihad: 
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=20728 Engaging in the 
symposium are 

5.a.  Dr. Rohan Gunaratna, the author of Inside Al Quaeda: Global Network of 
Terror.  He is the head of the international Centre of political violence and 
Terrorism Research at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies in 
Singapore;

5.b.  Badrus Sholeh, the head of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at 
Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta; 

5.c.  Andrew Cochran, the Founder and Editor of the Counterterrorism Blog.  HE 
is Vice President of GAGE, a business consulting and government affairs firm 
headquartered in Washington, DC. and advises clients on terrorism and homeland 
security, corporate governance, and appropriations issues;

5.d.  Walid Phares, a Professor of Middle East Studies and Senior Fellow with 
the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.  He is the author of the new 
book Future Jihad: Terrorist Strategies Against America.

5.e.  Jamie Glazov introduced the symposium (January 2, 2006) with these words: 
 "Militant Islam is gaining ground in Indonesia, the world's most populous 
Muslim nation.  This development is of crisis proportions, since Indonesia 
plays a crucial role in guaranteeing security in Asia.  This year's second Bali 
terror attack was only the symbol of Islamism's skyrocketing war on the 
country.  Indeed, jihadists are intensely concentrating on annihilating any 
non-Muslim presence in Indonesia.  The Ulema Council, the highest Islamic 
authority, has issued a fatwa condemning religious diversity.  Christian 
churches have been closed and a law has been passed discriminating against 
non-Muslim schools."

5.f.  The entire symposium is worth reading.

6.  I am not at all opposed to the noble charge of the Light Brigade.  I admire 
the stand of the Texans at the Alamo.  The French Foreign Legions Battle of 
Camarón brings tears to my eyes.  And I appreciate the attitude of someone who 
might say, "Let the Jihadists do their damdest.  They only way they'll get me 
to stop teaching is to pry the words from my cold dead mouth."   But to deny 
that Jihadist dangers exist in Indonesia, is well . . . being in denial, 
wishful thinking, clicking one's heels and pretending one is really in Kansas?

Lawrence Helm

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