Critics on warpath against
US military aid to Jakarta
By Tim Shorrock
WASHINGTON - As US officials lobby Congress to approve a US$16
million package of military aid for Indonesia, they are stressing
the need to support political stability in the world's largest
Muslim nation while downplaying Jakarta's role in the global war
against terrorism.
"Whether democracy succeeds or fails in Indonesia won't be a
function of our reaction to the events of September 11,"
Matthew Daley, the deputy assistant secretary of state for East
Asian and Pacific Affairs, said in a recent speech. "In
dealing with Indonesia on counter-terrorism, if the focus is
September 11, you're missing 90 percent of the story."
The George W Bush administration is seeking $8 million to train
the Indonesian police in internal counter-terrorism tactics and
another $8 million for a "peacekeeping headquarters" for
the Indonesian military, known as TNI.
Jakarta "has to confront the threat of sectarian
violence", Daley said. "We want to provide unequivocal
support for the territorial integrity of Indonesia," he said
at a forum on Indonesia sponsored by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation
and the US-Indonesia Society.
The change in rhetoric represents a shift from the Bush
administration's initial response to September 11, when it pressed
Jakarta and other allies to join the war against the al-Qaeda
network responsible for the hijack attacks on New York City and
Washington.
Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri was the first leader of
a Muslim country to visit President Bush after the attacks and the
two leaders used their meeting to restart high-level contacts
between the Pentagon and the TNI. Bush also lifted a US ban on the
sale of non-lethal commercial arms to Jakarta.
In the weeks after September 11, US officials warned that Osama
bin Laden's al-Qaeda network had infiltrated Indonesia, posing
serious danger. "I think they are more dangerous to Indonesia
than they are to the United States," Paul Wolfowitz, the
deputy secretary of defense who once served as the US ambassador
in Jakarta, told an Indonesian magazine last November.
US military aid and training for Indonesia was suspended in
September 1999 in the aftermath of the rampage in East Timor by
militia forces backed by the TNI. Later that year, Congress
adopted the Leahy amendment linking the resumption of military aid
to the prosecution of military personnel involved in the
atrocities.
Since Megawati's visit to Washington, US-Indonesian military ties
have grown closer. In April, US and Indonesian officials held
talks on security issues, followed in May by a visit to Jakarta by
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who said that a quick
resumption of military ties between Washington and Jakarta would
bolster the war against terrorism.
"I think it is unfortunate that the United States does not
today have military-to-military relationships with
Indonesia," he told reporters.
But many in Congress continue to believe that Indonesia has not
fulfilled its promises to reform the military. And on the issue of
East Timor, the State Department itself is unsatisfied with
Indonesia's attempt to prosecute generals responsible for the 1999
violence. "I cannot tell you that we're encouraged by the
progress to date," said Daley.
One factor in the US decision to stress Indonesian issues over
global terrorism is the potential backlash from Indonesian Muslims
toward US policy in the Middle East, particularly Washington's
"uncompromising support for Israel", said Meidyatama
Suryodiningrat, the managing editor of the Jakarta Post.
"The perception remains that Muslims are being
victimized" by US policy, Suryodiningrat said. He noted that
radical Islamic parties will contend for power in the 2004
national elections in Indonesia. If the economic situation doesn't
improve, more young Indonesians could be "attracted to
radical ideologies", he said. "There is a potential for
radical Islamic movements to become popular."
Suryodiningrat said a resumption of US military ties could lead to
reforms within the TNI. "But if it's focused narrowly on
terrorism, it will do more harm than good," he said.
The aid the Bush administration is seeking will better prepare the
TNI to deal with domestic disturbances and civil unrest, argued
Daley. "We're trying to expand the margins of what we can do
with the TNI." The United States should be
"realistic" and recognize that Indonesia must resort to
using its military rather than police to deal with internal
problems - a situation "not unfamiliar" to US leaders,
he said.
The $16 million would allow Indonesian forces to be "trained
in ways to deal with problems without recourse to discriminate
violence in units under command and control", he added.
"If approved by Congress, the money won't go to tactical
units themselves to buy bayonets, stun guns, electronic prods and
that kind of thing, but for command and control, mobilization and
training. This doesn't amount by any stretch of the imagination to
a broad resumption of a long-term military relationship. That
requires more progress" in military reform, Daley said.
But Sidney Jones, the Jakarta representative of the International
Crisis Group, said it is far too early to resume direct military
aid to the TNI. The $16 million package requested by the Bush
administration "sends a very wrong signal about the
Indonesian TNI involvement with internal security", she said.
The Leahy amendment, Jones said, "is our only source of
pressure on the Indonesian government".
A recent International Crisis Group paper on Indonesia states:
"Better military training will not alter the fact that there
is a fundamental lack of political will on the part of Indonesian
national civilian and military authorities to exert control over
private armies, punish abusive soldiers, end military corruption
or proceed with long-promised reforms."
(Inter Press Service)
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