TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Army’s chief of information division, Brig. Gen. Wuryanto, said the Army had exercised a multitude of strategies to keep the public from being ensnared in the recruitment of the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS).
According to him, those of the middle-lower class were more prone to joining ISIS, as the extremist group had pledged a monthly pay of Rp50-150 billion for those willing to join its war in the Mideast.
“One of our ways is by helping people combating poverty. If the people live on easy street, then the promised money won’t be so appealing to them,” he said in a discussion in Menteng on Monday, April 27, 2015.
He added the Army did this by supporting the government’s plans to strive for food self-sufficiency and security, in which it deployed Babinsa members—non-commissioned officers tasked to supervise villages—to provide agricultural mentoring for farmers.
“Babinsa will help farmers maximize their harvests until they reach self-sufficiency,” he said.
He added Babinsa would also disseminate information on the danger of radicalism to people in rural areas across the country and gather information on its existence to tackle the spread of radical teachings, including ISIS.
INDRA WIJAYA
