Editorial: We're living in a dangerous neighbourhood

From a New Zealand point of view, it could so easily have been worse. The bomb that blew out the front of the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta on Tuesday caused no more than superficial injuries to staff of Fonterra who were at the hotel for a company training session. But their very presence underlines the proximity of Indonesia to this country and the likelihood that any attack on Western targets there will find New Zealanders in danger. It is the reason that this country, like Australia, must take a closer interest in the security of Indonesia and help the civil authorities there to crack down even harder than they have on those who choose such deadly means to promote their political ends.

There seems little doubt that the Marriott bombing was the work of the same band who have been blamed for the Bali slaughter 10 months ago. Both were car bombs detonated outside places where Westerners were likely to be. And the latest attack came just as the trial of those accused of the Bali bombings was coming to a conclusion.

Governments in the region agree that the only known organisation capable of sabotage on this scale is Jemaah Islamiyah, which is said to have links with al Qaeda and followers trained in Afghanistan. Jemaah Islamiyah entertains a hope of uniting much of Southeast Asia in a single state run, no doubt, along Taleban lines. Its popular support is minimal in Indonesia, let alone the other territories it would like to command, but it must believe that attacks on tourism will advance its cause somehow.

The most troubling aspect of the latest outrage is that it comes after an impressive law enforcement effort against Jemaah Islamiyah. Indonesian police were quick to make arrests for the Bali bombing, and while some found their success suspiciously quick, they went on to net 30 people allegedly involved. Since Bali, several more of Jemaah Islamiyah's suspected foot soldiers have been caught in Thailand and other parts of their imagined domain.

Yet there have been five bombings in Indonesia this year, none of which has been solved. The latest attracts wider attention not only because Western visitors were clearly in the bombers' sights but also because the target, a well-guarded hotel in central Jakarta, was boldly chosen and the timing, almost on the eve of verdicts in the Bali case, sends an unmistakable message. It is plainly intended to tell us that terrorism in Indonesia remains alive and well.

And deadly. Just as the Bali bombs were timed for late evening in the bar district, the latest explosion came at lunchtime in the capital when meetings such as Fonterra's had taken a break. These attacks are not random; they are carefully planned for maximum impact.

Where there is planning, though, there is a greater prospect of prevention. While there will be questions as to whether intelligence agencies had warning, or ought to have had warning, of this attack, they have nipped previous plans in the bud. The Jemaah Islamiyah members arrested in Thailand in June and July were reportedly preparing to blow up Western embassies and terrorise beach resorts.

If they mean to cripple their country's tourism industry they could well succeed. Much as it might disappoint the Indonesian authorities, Governments such as New Zealand's are right to warn their citizens against unnecessary travel in that country until further notice. Governments such as ours, though, should also be extending what help they can to the anti-terrorist effort in that heavily populated state to our near north. It is facing secessionist battles at both ends of the archipelago as well as the militant fundamentalism that poisons Islamic societies.

Most Indonesians are well-disposed to this country and despise those who pervert their religion to justify death and carnage. We should keep them in mind as we recoil from yet another reminder that this has become a dangerous neighbourhood.