From Jakarta to Mumbai

On friday, two American luxury hotels in Jakarta, the JW Marriott and the Ritz Carlton, were attacked by suicide bombers. Although no one has claimed responsibility for the attacks yet, the initial invesitgation by Indonesian authorities links the terrorists to a small Jemaah Islamiyah splinter group lead by a notorious terrorist known as Noordin M. Top. According to the AP, Top, an explosives specialist, has been linked to several previous bombings in Indonesia including the same Marriott and the Australian embassy. Jemaah Islamiyah has also been linked with Al Qaeda.

In a fitting juxtaposition, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeared in Mumbai less than twenty four hours after the bombings in Indonesia to mark the brutal terrorist siege last fall. Underscored by such a horrendous act the previous day, Secretary Clinton issued a passionate call to action, calling on allies to do more to fight terrorism. How effective that call was will remain to be seen.

At issue here is the effectiveness of diplomatic efforts in fighting terrorism. India and Indonesia, as well as other countries in the region, have had a hell of a time dealing with terrorist groups due to the presence of both domestic and foreign cells as well as their increasing sophistication and secrecy. Also, when most people hear that these groups are linked to Al Qaeda, they don't really understand what that means. Al Qaeda literally translated means "the foundation." That name isn't just symbolic as most links to Al Qaeda aren't traceable like a money trail or a transfer of hard materials like explosives or weapons. More often than not, groups are linked to Al Qaeda by mere rhetoric or shared Islamic ideology or purely by communication, their own form of diplomacy.

The gut check here is that countries facing these threats of terrorism are already doing a great deal to protect their citizens. Ever since 9/11, terrorism has been the foremost international threat, and the US has seen fit to keep it that way. Countries like India and Indonesia who have suffered multiple horrendous terrorist attacks over the past several years and even more attacks before that are spending a great deal of resources to protect themselves from further harm. But, the reality is that they can only do so much. Secretary Clinton's call to action today, while nice in its symbolism, doesn't actually do any good. In fact, such prods will eventually shift from tedious to annoying to angering. No ammount of money, training or logistics can stop a well trained and hell bent suicide bomber. The only thing we can hope to do is to trace the actions back to the leaders and stop them like the Indonesian authorities are doing.