RESUMPTION OF MILITARY COOPERATION

By Akhmad Kusaeni

The Indonesian government is ready to work with President George W Bush. Since the incumbent is re-elected, things are clearer for us than if it is a new president. President Bush has committed to us and we have committed to him.
One of the important commitments is to renew military cooperation. Washington is seeking to restore military ties with Indonesia in the name of fighting the war on terrorism. On the other hand, Jakarta vowed cooperation in the war on terrorism.
In July, the Pentagon announced the resumption of bilateral defense dialogue with Jakarta. In its request for military aid for Indonesia, the White House said, “Indonesia has demonstrated its resolve to fight terrorists and violent extremism”.
The U.S. and Indonesian government have plans to restore military aid programs that cut off for years. Military-to-military relations were severed during the violence in East Timor in 1999.
For many years, the United States was Indonesia’s largest weapon source, equipping the country with everything from F-16 fighter planes to M-16 combat rifles. But during the 90s the spectacle of how Indonesia was using these gifts—to repress and brutalize its own people---provoked an international outcry.
The U.S. Congress responded by cutting most military ties with Indonesia. Since then, Washington put arms embargo on commercial sales of lethal defense items to Indonesia. In recent years and in the light of war on terrorism, Indonesia hopes for commitments of new military training, light weapons and spare parts for their grounded fleet of 12 U.S. F-16 fighter planes.
A major obstacle to stronger U.S.-Indonesia relations remains the ban on military-to-military cooperation imposed on Washington by Congress. Attempts by the Bush administration to begin to restore those links have met opposition from Congress due to series of concerns over “human rights violations, brutal repression of independence movements, involvement in sectarian violence and relationships with terrorist networks”.
In October 2004, 45 members of the Congress wrote Secretary of State Colin Powell to oppose restoration of military aid to Indonesia, citing “grave concerns over the prospects if real military reforms” in a “massively corrupt” institution riddled with “impunity”. They call the administration’s efforts “premature, unwarranted, and unwise”.
Since 9-11, the Bush administration has pushed Congress to allow it to bolster the Indonesian military with weapons and military training. The war on terrorism has added impetus for attempts to forge ties with Indonesian military and police. Military training assistance will pay for U.S. soldiers to train the Indonesian military in everything from close-quarter combat to human right. Additional spending will provide loans and credits to buy new U.S. weapon and technology.
Just a few months ago, President Bush sent Congress his request for $8 million to train an Indonesian counter-terrorism unit and $8 million more to train a domestic peacekeeping unit. For fiscal year 2005, President Bush requesting $600,000 in military training, up from the $459,000 that was frozen in 2004. However, there is no guarantee that Congress will agree to release these training funds.
Pressure from human right activists has kept members of Congress wary of the Bush administration’s efforts to restore military aid and training assistance. Thus, the main target for Indonesia government to lobby is the Congress.
The U.S. Congress, since its established in 1776, had already became “The World Congress” because their members felt that they were responsible for not only their constituencies, but also for all the people around the world.
The U.S. Congress, consisted of 100 Senators, 435 Representatives and thousand of its staffs members, work with the strong sense of entitlement to reward and punish other countries. The Congress is always using foreign aids for political, economic and military purposes, i.e. to reward and to punish. These carrots and sticks diplomacy of Congress sometimes cause diplomatic frictions with foreign states.
An effort to lobby and to negotiate for resumption of military cooperation should be directed to the members of Congress. Indonesian officials and diplomats should knock the doors of U.S. Senators and Congressmen, listening to them, giving arguments and making personal relations with them.
There will always be a good chance for a good thing. Yes, the U.S. Congress restricts military-to-military cooperation. But, the Congress always reviews it every year. What we have to do is to convince them that Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim democracy and a crucial ally in the war on terrorism.
We have to make them believe that Washington needs Jakarta as a Muslim ally in this “war” and a source of intelligence on Islamic extremism, which means strengthening Indonesia military infrastructure is a must.
We must tell the Congress that the current restrictions on U.S. military interaction with the Indonesian armed forces limit the U.S. effectiveness in the war on terrorism. Terrorists are active in Indonesia, as the September 9 bombing outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta illustrates.
We need help in tracking down the perpetrators of this attack, and those responsible for the Bali bombing in October 2002 and the attack on the Marriott Hotel in August 2003. We need U.S. assistance to prevent and deal with the possible terrorist attacks in the future to come.
We believe that members of Congress who actively oppose resumption of military aid to Indonesia will understand that security flows from vibrant democracy. And Indonesia new government under Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono presidency will do the best to make human and civil rights are protected, laws are enforced equally for everyone (even those wearing uniforms), the political process is transparent, and military power is curtailed.
Only then, the resumption of the U.S.-Indonesian military cooperation is only a matter of time.