Mohan, since I saw my name mentioned on this august thread, I am barging in with my own 2 cents.
The real danger in the Bosnian civil war, and the main reason the US stick its neck so far out, was not that the Serbs were committing genocide against the Muslims (I wish I could say our country is so altruistic), but the danger was the ever growing presence of Iranian and Libyan volunteers fighting on the Muslim side. This could have deteriorated into a "Muslims" vs Christians" war, and thus our major efforts to stop this conflagration in its infancy. I think you under estimate the possible results of a frenetic call to arms, under a Jihad banner. To quench internal miseries, disorders and dissatisfaction, what is better than a foreign "enemy", and when was the last time leaders had to have a rationale for such an enemy (from within or out). The fact is that this time the Indonesians Muslims are weary of using the "inside enemies" (Chinese) as scapegoats (China made it clear it will not acquiesce), so looking out to Singapore, Malaysia and yes, even possibly as far as India (in unison with their Muslim Brothers) is not out of the question.
Zeev |
