Aside from teaching a few basic things, it was important to stress that one of the bigger purposes for us being here is meeting & getting to know each other- so that future efforts to work together will run well. The USPACOM guys (5 instructors) are hoping to hear & learn about Indonesian perspectives on some of these issues, as well as share how America is approaching the subject of anti-terrorism & counter-terrorism.

After each class, there was a question-answer period. That tended to be the most interesting part of the day. Some of the questions were imaginative in their simplicity, and probing… others were straight forward- and illustrated some cultural misunderstandings between Indonesia & America.

A good example was the question: “what is terrorism?” The answer we gave on the spot sounded like something out of a text book & missed a good opportunity to acknowledge the complexity of the subject. The world has many definitions, which even the UN can’t agree on,,, What determines a terrorist from a freedom fighter? It’s a slippery subject to nail down. Good starting point though. Great question.

Another good example was: “Why does America have such a hard time distinguishing between Islam & terrorism?” whew! There’s a homerun right there. Another great question that we re-visited several times over the week.

The point wasn’t to stand there & have all the answers- many of these issues are decided at the policy-maker levels amongst political leaders. But it’s people like us who implement them,,, can sit together & talk about them in settings like this,,, and strengthen our relationship from the bottom-up, instead of waiting for some political leader to instruct us from the top-down.