By Tom Plate
Jakarta is closer than we realize. That's why President Barack Hussein Obama's condemnation of the suicide bombings of those two Western-brand luxury hotels in the capital of sprawling Indonesia was no we-have-to-put-out-something-or-other response. It reflected real alarm: If it can happen there, why not in Atlanta or Providence or the Poconos or ― Los Angeles?
Obama knows his administration is scarcely immune from a U.S. ``Jakarta jolt" just because his middle name happens to be Hussein. He needs his anti-terror policy to seem tough as nails, even if he prefers that it not trample all over the U.S. Constitution.
But the credibility of his security policy ― and perhaps his Presidency ― rests on the assumption that if something like Jakarta ever happened here on his watch, it would not be because he had let our guard down via liberal coddling of terrorists. But that is the certain charge from Republicans should anything like a Ritz-Carleton/JW Marriott occur here.
In fact, that implication, without of course a single new terrorist explosion in the United States, has already been un-gently floated by former Vice President Richard Cheney in defense of his past approach. In effect, this former Rasputin of the Republican White House Right implies that Obama's flaccidity on terrorism is evident in his pulling the plug on Guantanamo and in trying to process accused terrorists under the Constitutional umbrella.
The hard-right Cheney-view argues that no significant terrorist tragedy occurred after Sept. 11, 2001, precisely because terrorists of all sizes and shapes ― not just the serious, obvious ones but even the only vaguely-suspected (if not falsely charged) one ― were treated by the Bush administration as no better than dirt and then kept tied up in dirt bags.
That macho pose played well domestically but not internationally. The Obama administration approach emphasizes a more nuanced White House policy that would aim to treat all suspects with due process and avoid digging massively embarrassing hellholes like Guantanamo. Given all the other national-security measures in place, it insists, we can remain a safe America while also a just and justice-caring America.
But the problem for Obama is that the Republicans have framed the issue with Machiavellian cunning. They've constructed a box tough to get out of if we too get hit with a Jakarta. One explosive incident in the United States, no matter what it is or why it happened, could put the White House on the defensive and resurrect Cheney from the political grave.
In effect, the Indonesian bombings ― leaving at least nine killed and many dozens injured ― have triggered what might be called a pre-traumatic stress syndrome for Democrats. They serve to remind them that every decent step they bravely and properly take in the direction of processing the terrorist threat differently from the meat-cleaver Bush approach can leave them hanging on a political limb. One blinding, explosive moment and that limb would be sawed off in the cruel cauldron of Washington politics faster than you can say ``naive Democrats."
There is thus a freaky kind of parallelism between Muslim extremist organizations like al-Qaida and Jemaah Isamyah, the putative engineers of this latest Indonesian hotel attack, and the domestic enemies of Obama.
All this is not lost on the clever and nimble-footed U.S. President, now walking the delicate line. Obama's statement seemed to reflect the balancing act: ``The American people stand by the Indonesian people in this difficult time … These attacks make it clear that extremists remain committed to murdering innocent men, women and children of any faith in all countries. We will continue to partner with Indonesia to eliminate the threat from these violent extremists …"
About which, three observations seem immediately noteworthy.
First, note that nowhere in the statement was there a single use of the words Islam or Muslim: That was no sin of omission but a deliberate decision. Obama rightly understands that there's no point other than generating outrage in suggesting that terrorist extremists represent all Muslims ― any more than abortion-clinic terrorists represent all Christians.
Second, note Obama's emphasis on the fact that innocent people of any faith in all countries are subject to extremism. This is a shout-out to the effect that the American people's desire for security from terrorist attacks is fundamentally apolitical and trans-cultural: Rather than special pleading, it is a universally shared value.
Finally, Indonesia, which is home to more Muslims than any nation in the world, has been on the White House travel wish-list for months. Indonesians have been hoping, praying and expecting a Presidential visit around November. But Obama's statement makes no mention of any such intention. That's no surprise, with the dust from the Jakarta explosions still in the air.
Even so, Obama needs to issue a second White House statement. This one should announce an official visit to Indonesia, a most important country. There is no hiding from terrorism, Islamic or otherwise; best to meet it head on and, when possible, kick it right in the teeth, militarily or, better yet, with confident national defiance. That's the best answer to any Jakarta.
Syndicated columnist Tom Plate, the author of ``Confessions of an American Media Man," soon to be published in Vietnamese and Korean, has been traveling in Southeast Asia lately. He can be reached at platecolumn@gmail.com.