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(A terrible thing has happened and this post does not mean to ignore or belittle this)
The initial use of Al-Qaida may well distract from idigenous reasons for such an attack. To refer to Earthscan's State of the World 2002, I draw upon acts of corporate terrorism that have motivated much 'terrorist' activity regionaly in Indonesia.
'...ExxonMobil and Freeport-McMoRan in Indonesia, they have subsidized or helped train and arm government security forces or have made equipment and facilities available. These units have been involved in severe human rights violations.'
'...the strong demand for commodities and the consumer products made from them that makes illegal resource exploitation so lucrative.'
'Several sites in Indonesia are the site of some of the most intense resource-triggered struggles.'
'Acech is home to Arun, Indonesia's largest oil field and the site of a huge liquified natural gas (LNG) plant. Operated by ExxonMobil and owned by the state company Pertamina, Arun genrates 30 percent of the country's oil and gas export income, or about $1.2 billion a year.'
'Construction in the late 1970's displaced several vilages and hundreds of families. gas leaks and chemical spills caused health and enviromental problems, devastating local communities depending on agriculture and fish farming.'
'The Aceh Freedom Movement known as GAM (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka) began in 1976...'
'Renewed violence has killed more than 5,000 people, mostly civillians.'
'GAM guerrillas have long targetted military installations and Javanese migrants, but ExxonMobil has now become a prime target ..'
'Military Commanders responded with a counterinsurgency operation that resulted in numerous executions and disappearences and that led thousands of Acehnese to flee their homes.'
'Several mass graves with more than 5,000 bodies have been discovered. ExxonMobil paid the military to provide security for its operations, and reports allege that the company provided equipment to dig the mass graves and allowed its facilities for torture and other activities.'
'US based Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold Inc. is operating teh Grasberg mine-the world's largest open-pit gold mine, which is roughly as large as the state of Vermont.'
'Land owned the indigenous peoples, the Amungme and Kamoro, including a mountain sacred to them, was taken over without their consent by a 1967 agreement between Freeport and the Suharto regime. Not only have many villages been displaced, but mine wastes have been dumped on downstream tribal lands. In 1998, for example, some 200,000 tons of ore were dumped into the Ajkwa river system. These mine "tailings" have turned 230 square kilometers of river delta into a lfeless wasteland.'
'Although the violence is less intense than in Aceh, the death toll since 1961 may be as high as 100,000'.
I could go on.
Tourism is another huge income for Indonesia and this attack may be a part of the ongoing resource conflict. |
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