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The Jihadists Strike Back
Bruce Riedel, author of The Search for al Qaeda, says Friday’s bombings in Jakarta targeting Westerners prove the need for constant and renewed counterterrorism efforts.
Today’s deadly bombing attacks on two hotels in Jakarta—the Ritz-Carlton and the JW Marriott—are bitter reminders that when the global Islamic jihad sinks its roots into a country even the best counterterrorist campaign can never afford to reduce its vigilance. Indonesia was wracked by jihadist terror from 2002 until 2005. An al Qaeda affiliate, Jemaah Islamiyah, carried out a wave of bombings that targeted Westerners, especially Australians, but actually killed more Indonesian innocents than anyone else. It is too soon to say for certain if today’s attack is a JI operation but simultaneous attacks on Western hotels are a trademark modus operandi of the global jihad and al Qaeda.
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The ties between JI and al Qaeda were forged during the Afghan wars of the last century when a small number of radical Islamists from Indonesia traveled to Pakistan and Afghanistan to join the jihad and train in al Qaeda’s camps along the border. The mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, developed especially close ties to some Indonesians. He even planned to use JI operatives in the so called second 9/11 wave, a plot to hijack jets to hit targets on the West Coast either simultaneously with September 11th attacks or shortly after.
Al Qaeda has publicly associated itself closely with JI and its previous wave of terror. Just last December, Ayman Zawahiri issued an audio message eulogizing three JI operatives executed for bombings in Bali in 2002. Zawahiri warned then that the jihad would strike again in Indonesia because Indonesia’s moderate government allegedly “protects the interests of the Crusaders and the Jews.” The message specifically warned Australians not to visit their Muslim neighbor.
Indonesia was often held up as a role model for how smart counterterrorism could defeat the terrorists.
Indonesia, with help from Australia and the U.S., fought a smart counterterrorist campaign against the JI after 2002. Intelligence cooperation in the region improved and Indonesia’s democracy demonstrated a strong alternative to the message of the jihadists. Indonesia was often held up as a role model for how smart CT could defeat the terrorists.
Today’s event does not detract from those efforts, but it reminds us that vigilance must be maintained at all times against al Qaeda’s affiliates and franchises. Even when they look defeated, as in Indonesia or in Saudi Arabia, they can recover and strike again.
Xtra Insight: Read more analysis plus eyewitness accounts of the Jakarta bombing
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Bruce Riedel is a senior fellow at the Saban Center in the Brookings Institution. He chaired President Obama’s strategic review of Afghanistan and Pakistan last winter and is author of The Search for al Qaeda.
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As vice chairman of Public Strategies and president of Maverick Media, Mark McKinnon has helped meet strategic challenges for candidates, corporations and causes, including George W. Bush, John McCain, Governor Ann Richards, Charlie Wilson, Lance Armstrong, and Bono. McKinnon is co-chair of Arts & Labs, a collaboration between technology and creative communities that have embraced today's rich Internet environment to deliver innovative and creative digital products to consumers.
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Bruce Riedel is a senior fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East policy at the Brookings Institution. He served 30 years in the CIA and has traveled extensively throughout Yemen. His 2008 book, The Search for Al Qaeda, will come out in paperback this spring.
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Bruce Riedel is a senior fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East policy at the Brookings Institution. He served 30 years in the CIA and has traveled extensively throughout Yemen. His 2008 book, The Search for Al Qaeda, will come out in paperback this spring.
Aysha Chowdhry is a research analyst with the Brookings Project on U.S. relations with the Islamic World.
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Bruce Riedel is a senior fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East policy at the Brookings Institution. He served 30 years in the CIA and has traveled extensively throughout Yemen. His 2008 book, The Search for Al Qaeda, will come out in paperback this spring.
Banjo1
The author suggests we "fight back." In the U.S. under Obama, fighting back means hamstringing the CIA, the threat of investigating the previous administration (8 years of no attacks on American shores), and cutting back on military spending. You think our adversaries aren't watching?
Saleiri
Actually, there were several attacks back in 2001, I guess you forgot. On a serious note, I think its hilarious how the bush administration STILL talks about how effective they were in deterring domestic terrorism, despite the fact that it was under their regime that we suffered the worst terror attacks in the history of our country...but I guess other than THAT, they did a bang up job
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n--Y--genomegkJohnnorth
genomegk just hopes that the scale of the attacks will be the same. Just hopes we don't get another 9/11. Just hopes the metrics remain the same ,Point is we can't risk it. The shock of 9./11 was mor e than the horrible deaths; it shook the whole of the most important city in America. If we listen to genomegk we just have to hope the jihadists don't get lucky.
He can take a bet with his own life, but not with others.
Johnnorth
Thank heavens genomegk is not in charge of anything to do with our safety. It is all very well to run up a few statistics - which don't prove the threat isn't real but that we are alert. But what he fails to consider is that just ONE strike or worse, like 9/11, is not worth risking. You cannot "weigh the true magnitude of the risks" when you are dealing with a shadowy organistion determined to kill at random. Thank you, Mr. Riedel
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n--Y--genomegkThis user is no longer registered.
n--Y--genomegkThank you.
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