The US justice system has finally established a trial system for captives suspected of international terrorism. Among the first to be confronted will be the Indonesian Hambali, who was seized in 2003. As operations chief of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terrorist organization, Hambali plotted attacks that killed hundreds. More than that, he effectively linked Al Qaeda with diverse Islamic militant groups in Southeast Asia, thereby turning local Muslim fighters into global jihadists. And he did this globalizing task so well that, even should justice demand his death, the evil he created will live long after him.
Hambali shares telltale characteristics with many young Muslim men who turn toward violence in Southeast Asia. His education was religious rather than secular, focusing on Arabic, the Koran and the chanting of holy verses, instead of skills that might lead toward a career in government or industry. Raised in West Java as Riduan Isamuddin, he eagerly attached himself to prominent emirs such as the co-founders of JI, Abdullah Sungkar and Abu Bakar Bashir, and Al Qaeda's Osama bin Laden. And he was willing to travel to acquire the religious instruction and the military training he sought, from his home in small-town West Java to most countries in Southeast Asia, as far afield as Pakistan and Afghanistan.
But Hambali also has three traits rare among Southeast Asian militants: First, he is impressively persuasive. As a young man, he was a successful peddler, and the skills of a top salesman have served him well as a terrorist leader, readily attracting new people to his cause. He convinced his emirs that he knew their will and could implement their designs. He gained the trust and cooperation of hardened fighters with much greater experience in jihad than his. |