By Peter Symonds, World Socialist Web Site, 7 August 2003
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The Asian editor of the Washington Strategic Affairs journal, Kerry Collison, remarked: "Now this car bombing, although it does have the fingerprints or hallmarks of what happened in Bali, it really smacks of military involvement because you can't move that amount of TNT explosives around Jakarta." Further questions were raised by the comments of Indonesian police spokesman Prasetyo yesterday. He told the media that the police had seized a number of documents in a raid in Semarang in Central Java three weeks ago, along with several JI suspects and a large quantity of explosives, detonators and ammunition. "In the documents there were some strategic areas including the location of the Marriott," Prasetyo said. If that is the case, was the hotel management informed? Why were no official warnings made? And most importantly, what was done to prevent such an attack?
The media has excluded other organisations with the expertise and motive to carry out the hotel bombing. These include the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), which has been the target of more than two months of bloody military repression in Aceh-backed by Washington and Canberra. Collison commented that it would be wrong to immediately conclude that JI was responsible. "The Acehnese in the last six months have been throwing grenades around Jakarta, bringing the war to let's say Jakarta and the world has not sat up and paid any attention," he explained.
Moreover, if the timing of court proceedings is relevant, then the case of Major General Adam Damari is also worthy of attention. On the day of the Marriott bombing, Damari was sentenced to three years jail for "gross human rights violations" for his role as TNI commander in East Timor during the widespread military-backed militia violence against supporters of East Timorese independence in 1999. Sections of the military have been openly hostile to the proceedings of the special human rights court, which was established under pressure from Washington.
In terms of expertise and motive, the TNI, which is notorious for its violent provocations, is a definite suspect. Seven Kopassus special forces soldiers were found guilty in April of murdering Papuan leader Theys Eluay in November 2001 and evidence points to the involvement of the military in the attack near the US Freeport-McMoRan mine in Papua last August, which resulted in the deaths of two American teachers. In the latter case, the military immediately blamed separatist rebels in a bid to secure the support of Jakarta and Washington for a campaign of repression in the province."
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http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/aug2003/indo-a07.shtml