Enough is enough

I keep hearing that now is not the right time to pressure the Indonesian government into banning Jemaah Islamiyah (JI). That it is too colonial and patronising of us to tell Indonesia what to do. Let's put it straight. 244 dead. Over 600 wounded. At what body count will it be the right time?

JI is a terrorist organisation. There is no doubting that. Their primary aim is to create a South-East Asian Islamic super-state that encompasses Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Cambodia, Thailand and Brunei thereby controlling a population of roughly 400 million people. And I do mean control, their version of Shariah law is all about control. So, it's not just Australians and other 'westerners' that are threatened by JI, it is the entire region. That's why they don't care about killing and maiming other Muslims. Most of their victims have been Indonesian. JI's motto is Death in the way of Allah is our highest aspiration. I dare say it should be 'Death in the way of Allah is their highest aspiration' referring to their fellow Muslims.

So what does Indonesia do? It bans JI immediately. Now, while the world is watching. It makes Indonesia look good. Like it's doing something in the 'War Against Terror'. Which it is. The government confiscates any and all property that JI or its members own. These guys are now outlaws and soon-to-be outcasts. It then hunts down the money trail - follow the money - and prosecutes anybody and everybody that financed JI. Prosecute anybody that helps them. Hunt them down one-by-one until they're all eliminated, imprisoned or have left for 'more favourable' places.

Playing nice with these guys and hoping that they're going to go away is never going to work. They have to be crushed. Utterly and totally. Indonesia failed to destroy them in the 50s. If it fails again it won't get another chance.