New front on War on Terror?

My wife is Indonesian and as such we get a lot of inside information on the day-to-day life in that country. I have heard a very disturbing piece of news this weekend. The new Indonesian government has started shutting down Christen churches and schools.

Is this mostly Muslim country preparing a �purge�? Remember, the old and new Indonesian governments both refuse to acknowledge a terrorist problem in their country.

My wife states that Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (the new Indonesian president) is a very fanatical Muslim and many Christen Indonesians are fearful of future violence.

Anyone have more information out there? Are we looking at a new front in the war on terror?

BTW: I�m a newbie at ATS so if this is the wrong forum I apologize in advance!

I can't see this being any different then some middle eastern countries today. Very rarely will you see a christain church in a country like Pakistan, Syria or most of them, because Christains aren't accepted there. The western world is one of acceptance of different cultures and beliefs, while it seems that the middle east has one acceptance, and that is the rule of Islam.

I don't find it surprising that Indoneisa is shunning the Christains there, it's the worl'd largest Muslim country (280 million) and I believe that it has very little support of the West. This wouldn't contitute a reason to attack, unless of course they begin attacking foreign nationals.

Actually, Indonesia has a rather large Christen population. Also, the largest Catholic church in southeast Asia is located in Jakarta (I have visited it, it�s very nice..right across from one of the biggests mosques in southeast Asia).

The reason I stated in might be a purge is that the Muslims in this country tend to be quite violent from time to time. I suggest it is a new front because if the new government is going to allow this sort of thing we are now faced with a huge Muslim-based country going from a relatively neutral position on the war on terror to one of outright hostility.

This is an OPEC member nation with a lot of resources and close proximity to a lot of strategic areas in the pacific. We should be paying attention to what is happening there.

Dutch Film agrees with me.

By The Associated Press

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - Dutch film "Stand Van De Maan," which addresses increasing Islamic radicalism in Indonesia, won the top prize at the Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival.

Link to Full Story

Trust me, I have lots of inside insight to Indonesia. This is the next nest of fundunental Islam.