VOA标准英语2010年-Indonesia Uses 'Soft Approach' to Cont

Terrorism tied to Islamic fundamentalism seems to be on the rise in many parts of world -- from Yemen and Pakistan in the Middle East to Southern Thailand and the Philippine island of Mindanao in Southeast Asia.  But, in Indonesia -- a country that security experts worried might become a base for training and exporting al-Qaida recruits -- terrorism has significantly declined in the last five years.  The Indonesian government's response to terrorism was to take a soft approach, to treat it as a crime and and not a war, and that this approach seems to be working.

In July of 2009, terrorists again struck in the heart of Indonesia's capital.  Suicide bombers¹ linked to Jemaah Islamiyah, an Indonesian terrorist organization affiliated² with al-Qaida, detonated explosives in two Western hotels in Jakarta, killing³ nine people and injuring more than 50 others.

This deadly bombing was a reminder⁴ that terrorism remains⁵ an active threat in Indonesia.  But the reality is that terrorism in Indonesia has significantly declined, in the last few years.  The Jakarta bombing was the only major terrorist attack in 2009.  In 2008, there were no terrorist-related fatalities⁶.

Anti-terrorism analyst⁷ Sidney Jones says there are only about 2,000 J.I. members in Indonesia, out of a population of 250-million people.  Improvements in the social and political conditions in the country have made it harder for terrorist recruitment.

"We don't have a repressive government.  The country is not under occupation.  We don't have an alienated⁸ minority.  And, we don't have any hostile neighbors stirring up trouble or having the inclination⁹ to stir up trouble," Jones said.

Still, she says, as far back as the late 1990's, terrorism was on the rise Indonesia and, in 2001, there was legitimate¹⁰ concern that the terrorists were gaining public approval, as a wave an anti-American sentiment spread across the Muslim world.

"Immediately after 9/11 and immediately after the invasion of Afghanistan, there was at least passive support in a number of circles in Indonesia for some kind of retaliatory¹¹ measures against the United States.  And, there was a sense that the invasion was not justified," Jones said.

The Bali bombing in 2002, which killed 202 people, brought world attention to the growing terrorist problem in Indonesia. Rather than responding to these terrorist acts with massive military force, the Indonesian government decided¹² to take a softer approach, to treat terrorists as criminals and not as enemy combatants captured on the field of battle.

History Professor Azyumardi Azra, with the State Islamic University in Jakarta, says that, by trying the terrorists in open court, the government was able to convince a skeptical¹³ public and ambivalent¹⁴ Muslim organizations that these terrorist acts were indigenous¹⁵ Muslim-on-Muslim crimes and not a Western plot.

"After bringing some of the perpetrators of the Bali bombing one to justice, then it is clear that they did this suicide bombing by themselves, not because of engineering by external intelligence powers," Azra said. "This is one of the reasons moderate Muslim organizations changed their attitude."

Jones says outside of Indonesia there was criticism that some of the sentences for the terrorists were too lenient¹⁶.  For example, Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir -- an accused J.I. leader -- received only a 30-month sentence after being convicted of conspiracy¹⁷ related to the Bali bombings.  He was released after serving a little more than a year.  Later, the Indonesian Supreme¹⁸ Court overturned his conviction.  Jones says, although the justice system was not perfect, the transparency of the process helped build public confidence and support.

"There has been almost a strengthening of the rule of law," Jones stated. "Because of the way the terrorist cases were handled."

Azar says Indonesian Muslim groups are also playing a more prominent role in promoting multiculturalism¹⁹ and tolerance²⁰ and preventing outside fundamentals groups like the Wahabi and Salafi sects²¹ from gaining a foothold.

"In the last two or three years, moderate Muslim organizations -- like particularly N.U. [Nahdlatul Ulama] and Muhammadiyah -- have come to realize there should be very careful, there should be, pay more attention of the infiltration²² of these Wahabi or Salafi-oriented muslims, that they try to control the mosque," Azra said.

Involvement from Western powers like the United States remain in the background, mostly sharing intelligence and providing anti-terrorist military training. Jones says the millions of dollars in post-tsunami aid provided by the U.S. government and private organizations did little to enhance America's image in Indonesia, in part because it was not highlighted by the local media. But she says the election of U.S. President Barack Obama has won a huge number of Indonesian hearts and minds.

"The switch from Bush, who was so universally reviled²³, to someone who grew up in Indonesia and who talks about his favorite Indonesian food and still remembers some Indonesian language, I think that made all the difference," Jones said.

Although the threat of terrorism remains, Jones says Indonesia has contained the problem by not declaring a war on terror.

1 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 affiliated   

adj. 附属的, 有关连的

参考例句：

• The hospital is affiliated with the local university. 这家医院附属于当地大学。
• All affiliated members can vote. 所有隶属成员都有投票权。

3 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

4 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 fatalities   

n.恶性事故( fatality的名词复数 )；死亡；致命性；命运

参考例句：

• Several people were injured, but there were no fatalities. 有几个人受伤，但没有人死亡。
• The accident resulted in fatalities. 那宗意外道致多人死亡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

8 alienated   

adj.感到孤独的，不合群的v.使疏远( alienate的过去式和过去分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等）

参考例句：

• His comments have alienated a lot of young voters. 他的言论使许多年轻选民离他而去。
• The Prime Minister's policy alienated many of her followers. 首相的政策使很多拥护她的人疏远了她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 inclination   

n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好

参考例句：

• She greeted us with a slight inclination of the head.她微微点头向我们致意。
• I did not feel the slightest inclination to hurry.我没有丝毫着急的意思。

10 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

11 retaliatory   

adj.报复的

参考例句：

• The process can take years before the WTO approves retaliatory action. 在WTO通过此行动之前，这个程序恐怕要等上一阵子了。 来自互联网
• Retaliatory tariffs on China are tantamount to taxing ourselves as a punishment. 将惩罚性关税强加于中国相当于对我们自己实施课税惩罚。 来自互联网

12 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

13 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

14 ambivalent   

adj.含糊不定的；(态度等)矛盾的

参考例句：

• She remained ambivalent about her marriage.她对于自己的婚事仍然拿不定主意。
• Although she professed fear of the Russians,she seemed to have ambivalent feelings toward Philby himself.虽然她承认害怕俄国人，然而她似乎对菲尔比本人有一种矛盾的感情。

15 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

16 lenient   

adj.宽大的，仁慈的

参考例句：

• The judge was lenient with him.法官对他很宽大。
• It's a question of finding the means between too lenient treatment and too severe punishment.问题是要找出处理过宽和处罚过严的折中办法。

17 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

18 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

19 multiculturalism   

n.多元文化

参考例句：

• Switzerland is well known for cheese fondue, penguin parades and its multiculturalism. 瑞士一向以芝士火锅，企鹅游行和多元文化等特色闻名于世。
• That may be one reason why multiculturalism came easily to it. 这也是多元文化容易适应发展的原因之一。

20 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

21 sects   

n.宗派，教派( sect的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Members of these sects are ruthlessly persecuted and suppressed. 这些教派的成员遭到了残酷的迫害和镇压。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had subdued the religious sects, cleaned up Saigon. 他压服了宗教派别，刷新了西贡的面貌。 来自辞典例句

22 infiltration   

n.渗透；下渗；渗滤；入渗

参考例句：

• The police tried to prevent infiltration by drug traffickers. 警方尽力阻止毒品走私分子的潜入。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A loss in volume will occur if infiltration takes place. 如果发生了渗润作用，水量就会减少。 来自辞典例句

23 reviled   

v.辱骂，痛斥( revile的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The tramp reviled the man who drove him off. 流浪汉辱骂那位赶他走开的人。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The old man reviled against corruption. 那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。 来自《简明英汉词典》