Radical Islam recruits on U.S. distrust
From CNN Jakarta Bureau Chief Maria Ressa
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JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- The world's largest Muslim population is at an ideological crossroads.
Indonesia, long known for its moderate form of Islam, has become a battleground for the global war on terror.
Despite the fact that the worst al Qaeda strike since the September 11 attacks took place in Bali, Indonesia, the nation's vice-president has called the United States the "king of terrorists."
The majority of Indonesia's 230 million people still don't believe an al Qaeda-linked Muslim group exists within its borders and support the conspiracy theories blaming the Bush administration.
Din Syamsuddin, the vice chairman of Indonesia's second largest Muslim group, Muhammadiyah, believes the United States is working against Islam.
"Those people (are) still under the influence of the recruiters, which is the United States," he told CNN.
He echoes the sentiments of Vice President Hamzah Haz and many other Indonesians.
Anti-American sentiment has increased drastically since the September 11, 2001.
A survey in 2000 showed 75 percent of Indonesians had a favorable opinion of the United States. By 2003, however, 83 percent said they have an unfavorable opinion of America, particularly after the war in Iraq.
Islamic scholar Azyumardi Azra said certain U.S. policies have alienated the moderate Muslims in the nation.
That growing distrust towards the United States has become radical Islam's most powerful recruitment tool.
Since the end of the 32-year rule of Suharto's dictatorship in 1998, there has been a surge of radical groups -- like the Laskar Jihad, which along with al Qaeda's southeast Asian arm, Jemaah Islamiyah, fuelled Muslim-Christian violence in the province of Ambon, killing more than 10,000 people in three years.
Though authorities began clamping down on radical groups after the Bali bombing last year that killed more than 200 people, the appeal of radical Islam's anti-American message remains strong.
Analysts say the radicals are pushing more moderates to join them, and laying the groundwork for more terror attacks in the future.
Changing that trend is the challenge for the Indonesian government -- and a key step to winning the war on terror.
