What are the roots of Jemaah Islamiyah? How are South East Asian States working to combat terrorism? What should the role of the U.S. be?

It is believed that the roots of Jemaah Islamiyah, whose name means Islamic Group in Arabic, can be traced back in the late 1940s when Darul Islam emerged in the Indonesian republic to oppose the post-colonial rule of the Dutch. In the eyes of the Muslims, the rule is too secular. It is assumed that Jemaah Islamiyah is a revival of Darul Islam. In their attempt to create an Islamic fundamentalist regime in Southeast Asia, the group along with their leader S. Kartosuwirvo waged a fierce armed revolt against the central government of West Java between the years 1948 to 1962. A rebel leader in South Sulawes named Kahar Muzakkarm who has the same ideal of having an Islamic state later joined the group. The insurgency consumed much of the country’s military which resulted to its downfall. A man named Abu Bakar Bashir who joined Darul Islam in 1970 and shares the same ideal of an Islamic State was responsible for the creation of a certain boarding school in Java whose motto was "Death in the way of Allah is our highest aspiration." It attracted the poor and oppressed who were then trained in preparation for the revolution. Unluckily, Bashir was imprisoned for Islamist Activism due to this revolution attempt. To escape from his prison sentence, Bashir fle to Malaysia and became a religious teacher. He taught and preached the ideology of an Islamic state in Indonesia by waging a jihad. He recruited ‘paper’ revolutionaries who ‘talked’ jihad but didn’t ‘walk’ jihad. In the year 1985, Bashir went back to Indonesia but he was ordered back to prison. He escaped again by flying to Malaysia where he was able to recruit volunteers for the anti-Soviet Muslim brigades in Afghanistan because of the funds given by Saudi. It was said that Bashir has expressed support of OBL, but he has categorically denied any terrorist affiliation. Jemaah Islamiyah was formed by two Darul Muslim’s cleric; Abdullah Sungkar and Abu bakar Baasyir in Johor, Malaysia in the year 1993 to non-violently separate themselves from Western corruption. Jemaah Islamiyah’s primary aim was to establish an Islamic state in Indonesia but was changed to the concept of an Islamic super state because they were gaining more followers not just in Indonesia alone; but in Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Southern Philippines as well. And so its members are called to wage a jihad in any parts of the world where Muslims are considered to be oppressed. So how are South East Asian States, mentioned above, working to combat terrorism? There are series of Anti-terrorist movement among such states that would somehow help them in combating terrorism. In Indonesia, the government sought to introduce tougher anti-terror measures in the wake of the July 2009 bombings in Jakarta. These measures include stronger laws that would lengthen detentions for suspects. The use the armed forces in the struggle against militants was also introduced by Indonesia’s president. In the Philippines, there has been an ongoing negotiations still to settle the issues between the Philippine Government and the the MILF and working their way towards peaceful agreement. In Thailand, they themselves have conducted anti-terrorism movement but they have relied much to the help of the United States. Thailand and the United States have close anti-terrorism cooperation, institutionalized in the joint Counter Terrorism Intelligence Center (CTIC), which was reportedly established in early 2001 to provide better coordination among Thailand’s three main security agencies. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency reportedly shares facilities and information daily in one of the closest bilateral intelligence relationships in the region. In Malaysia, the government maintains that its strict laws and police activity undermined the previously existing networks of terrorism in Malaysia and continue to prove to be an effective deterrent to extremism. In Singapore, after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, Singaporean authorities launched aggressive operations to counter terrorist activities under its Internal Security Act. Singapore has arrested dozens of suspected Islamic militants, many of whom are alleged to be members or sympathizers of JI. The United States has increased their focus on radical Islamist and terrorist groups in South East Asian states mentioned above since September 2011 for they have been a base for terrorist operations. Penetration of the Al Qaeda has been rampant especially in the Southern Philippines and Indonesia where most of the local cells were established for the training of Southeast Asians in its camps in Afghanistan and to continue the cooperation and financial support to the indigenous radical Islamist group. The United States exerted effort to help such states to combat terrorism by means of different forms of aid.

http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/southeast/07/24/indo.JI.roots/ http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/ji.htm http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16850706 https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/terror/RL34194.pdf http://counterterrorismblog.org/site-resources/images/Gunaratna-Terrorism%20in%20Southeast%20Asia-Threat%20and%20Response.pdf