Resilient Indonesia

Walter Lohman / July 19, 2009

Friday’s terrorist bombing of Jakarta’s JW-Marriott and Ritz-Carlton is truly a reminder not just to Indonesia, but to the world, that however well we may be preventing terrorist attacks, there is another team on the field.

Terrorists can adjust tactics, morph organizations, and strike in unexpected ways at unexpected times. Details are not yet sifted in Jakarta, but indications are that the July 17 attacks were the work of Al Qaeda-linked Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), or splinter groups thereof. Police are focused on the possibility that suicide bombers posed as guests at the hotels before finding the right time to detonate their explosives nearly simultaneously at two separate locations. The simultaneity, the Western targets, and precise execution are hallmarks of JI. This is the same JI tied to Jakarta bombings each year from (more…)