RUMBLING and flying low, the Indonesian Air Force helicopter moved like a drunken dragonfly: wobbly and plunging forward. Sarmin, who was gathering grass on the ground below, suddenly saw an explosion which looked like a starburst. The iron dragonfly snagged electrical cables, exploded, then went down in a sugarcane plantation in Wanasari village, Cipunagara, Subang, West Java.

Early on that overcast Tuesday last week, Sarmin and two companions,