Following the latest Bali carnage, Indonesia's record in the 'war on terror' is on trial. Yet, before reaching a verdict, the jury should consider the difficulties of fighting Islamic radicals in a country with 196 million Muslims and a democracy in its infancy.
Most analysts have advised President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to ban Jemaah Islamiah (JI) and introduce tougher laws. But this misses two important points: Indonesia is a complicated country, and terrorism cannot be fought in a standardised manner worldwide.
In short, its war on terror needs to be a balancing act. If, on the one side, Jakarta has to face the growing threat of evil radicalism, on the other it has to be mindful of people's feelings and remember the recent past, tainted with dictatorship.
JI is accused of the latest Bali bombings and a string of other attacks that have killed and maimed mostly Indonesians, since 2000. It is listed as a terrorist group by the United States and various other countries, but not by Indonesia - where it counts a small following in private Islamic schools in central Java. However, banning JI would not solve the problem. Instead, it could give the group a special aura that would attract a larger following, and drive followers underground.
On the political front, banning JI could lay the government open to accusations of being anti-Islamic and a tool for the western war on terror. The price for the president could be loss of various Islamic parties' support - no small matter.
Indonesia needs to improve its intelligence and anti-terrorism laws, but Dr Susilo would face major problems if he decided to introduce an American-style Internal Security Act (ISA), as has been suggested.
Indonesians earned their civil rights with the blood spilled in the last days of the Suharto regime. Now, the scent of any legislation that limits these rights has students, civil society and most of the media up in arms and on the streets.