s the world commemorates the second anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks and the search for Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden continues, a lesser-known terrorist network in Southeast Asia is waging a murderous campaign for an Islamic state. Jemaah Islamiyah, recently in the headlines after one of its members was sentenced to death on September 9, 2003 for the bombing of a Bali nightclub, is a fundamentalist group that operates in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and potentially the Philippines and Thailand. Founded in the 1970s, the group advocates the creation of a theocratic Islamic state that would encompass most of Southeast Asia. It is determined to terrorize the governments and citizens of Southeast Asia until it achieves its goal and to date is responsible for at least 4 major attacks since 2000. JI's exact membership numbers are unknown, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.
The group's leader, Abu Bakar Bashir was recently sentenced to 4 years in prison, convicted of subversion and forgery, for his involvement in a plan to overthrow the Indonesian government. However, he was acquitted on charges of being the spiritual and organizational leader of JI, according to FoxNews.com. Bashir is a 62-year-old Indonesian cleric of Yemeni descent whose terrorism career began in the 1970s when he joined the militant group Darul Islam. The organization advocated a fundamentalist Islamic state and led a mutiny against the government from 1948-1962 but went underground after its attempts failed. In 1992 the group split up, with Bashir and Abdullah Sungkar establishing JI in Malaysia. Initially the offshoot group aspired to establish an Islamic theocracy in Indonesia, but after they acquired a following in other Southeast Asian nations, their goals became loftier and a "super state" became the objective. In an interview with CNN, Bashir explained his beliefs, saying that "if Islam is attacked, there are only two responses: we are victorious or we die. That is what it means to rise up and defend Islam...all of the violence in Indonesia has been engineered by America and Israel. Israel is Islam's strongest enemy, most radical. America is being used by Israel to attack Islam." Interestingly, though, Bashir claims he is not the leader of JI and that the organization doesn't exist.
While JI is intent on terrorizing all of Southeast Asia, Indonesia bears the brunt of its attacks. According to the CIA World Factbook, Indonesia has an 88% Muslim majority with Christian, Hindu, Buddhist and Jewish minorities. A participant in the War on Terrorism, the country has apprehended almost 90 members of JI since October 2002, when the Bali attack took place. However, innocent citizens have endured strikes that include a car bombing in front of the Jakarta Marriott, as well as bombings at the stock exchange, the airport, and outside of the parliament. Additionally, the school where former "educator" Bashir indoctrinated many students with his fundamentalist teachings is located in Solo. Pictures of AK47s adorn the walls and a sign above a classroom reads, "Death in the way of Allah is our highest aspiration." The word jihad is penciled in on the pages of a student's copy of the Qu'ran, yet the al Mukmin Islamic School maintains Bashir's innocence, and officials deny any link between the institution and the terrorist organization, according to CNN.com.
Many of JI's fighters receive training at al-Qaeda run camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan. After the bombing of a US-owned hotel in Jakarta, Indonesian Defense Minister Matori Abdul Djali confirmed the link between the groups, according to the BBC. Use of regional affiliates to facilitate more ambitious strikes has long been an al-Qaeda strategy, and its relationship with JI proved beneficial after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, when al-Qaeda members fled to Indonesia. When leaders from JI are seeking members, they attend mass gatherings, looking for young men, most of whom are students, to mold. After being accepted by the leadership, new members are taught "JI-speak" and learn the "truth doctrine," which preaches that innocent people, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, can be sacrificed in the name of Allah. According to a CNN.com report, psychologists who interviewed detained members found that many of them joined JI seeking a "no-fuss" path to Heaven. They found it in the promise of martyrdom if they died while fighting for "true Islam."
The link between al-Qaeda and JI was cemented through Riduan Isamuddin, aka Hambali, who was arrested in Thailand on August 11. Hambali is thought to be responsible for the JI attacks in Jakarta and Bali, and a peripheral figure in the September 11th attacks, as well as a direct contact of the bin Laden family, reported ABC News. The exact nature of the connection between the two agencies is unknown, but experts believe that Hambali is the only non-Arab with a position on al-Qaeda's military council while simultaneously serving as JI's operations chief, according to the Guardian Unlimited.
Even though al-Qaeda receives the most media attention of all terror groups, it is important to note that without the help of groups such as JI, the "worldwide terror network" that helped plan and execute the September 11th attacks would not exist. In an interview with The Weekly Standard, U.S. Ambassador to Singapore Frank Lavin said, "Southeast Asia is a major theater of this war, no doubt about that. Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation. Jemaah Islamiyah's transnational character demonstrates the need to cooperate" and that the potential for serious attacks in both Asia and the U.S remains. In an article published in Time Magazine late last year, Zachary Abuza, author of Radical Islam and Terrorism in Southeast Asia, said that JI had been hurt by the increased international response to terrorism, but also that the organization "is becoming more dependent on al-Qaeda operatives from the Middle East"which could lead to a significant escalation in violence in Southeast Asia and possibly suicide attacks"the objective of al-Qaeda and its affiliates is to spread terrorism worldwide, and in the process spread U.S., Western and Asian counter-terrorism resources too thin. The danger from them is greater than ever."
