'Intel inside': Indonesian intelligence, fear or security provider?<\/p>\n
Kornelius Purba, The Jakarta Post<\/p>\n
Why is Indonesia so similar to a personal computer?
\nBecause most PCs have Intel Inside, and there is rarely a
\nplace in Indonesia that has not been infiltrated by the
\nintelligence network inside.<\/p>\n
Cynics, who do not have sense of nationalism or patriotism,
\noften -- irresponsibly -- cite anecdotes to make jokes about the
\nquality of Indonesian intelligence. They call it Intel Melayu
\n(Malay intelligence agent, cowboy agent). Contrary to the normal
\nsecretive requirement for an agent, this Malay agent always has
\nhis revolver visible on his waist band so everyone knows he has a
\ngun.<\/p>\n
\"This is a state secret. I'm only leaking it to you, don't
\ntell anyone else,\" that is his trademark statement to his
\nfriends. Of course state secrets then become public knowledge.<\/p>\n
During Soeharto's era, military, especially Army, intelligence
\nnetworks reached at the lowest formal hierarchy in the society,
\ndown to the neighborhood units (RT) in the most remote areas in
\nthe country. Indonesia was a state of intelligence at that time.
\nThe main purpose was to ensure that Soeharto could sleep well
\nknowing of any attempts -- even the very, very small ones -- to
\ndisturb his power. There was no real espionage, in the normal
\nsense, the agents often worked so openly that nearly everybody
\nknew they were around to monitor the citizens' activities on a
\n24-hour basis.<\/p>\n
That is why Soeharto was so generous to the Army but had
\nlittle interest in developing the Air Force and the Navy because
\nthe biggest threat for his power did not come from outside but
\nfrom his own people. Soeharto loved to get \"happy news\" from his
\nintelligence officers, although the impact was often politically
\nfatal for him. Just a few weeks before his collapse in May 1998,
\nthey told him that most people still loved him very much and
\ncould not live without him.<\/p>\n
Soeharto's successor, B.J. Habibie also received intelligence
\nreports that Indonesia would easily win the independence
\nreferendum in August 1999 in East Timor. More than 78 percent of
\nthe voters however said,\"enough is enough for Indonesia.\"<\/p>\n
As evidenced by the kidnappings and disappearances of anti-
\nSoeharto activists not long before his fall -- allegedly by an
\nelite unit of the Army -- the country's best trained soldiers
\nalso had to work for the mission to eliminate anyone who was
\nagainst Soeharto. Human rights activist Munir outspokenly
\ndemanded that the government release the missing victims and put
\nthe offending officers on trial.<\/p>\n
The result? He was poisoned during a Garuda flight from
\nJakarta to Amsterdam via Singapore last year. A government-
\nsanctioned fact-finding team strongly suspects the involvement of
\nNational Intelligence Agency (BIN) in the poisoning. BIN's former
\nchief, Hendropriyono denied the allegations. So who then poisoned
\nMunir?<\/p>\n
It is possible that the retired Army general did not know that
\nsome of his officers had abused their power. The trial of Brig.
\nGen. (ret) Zyaeri in a Jakarta court for counterfeiting showed
\nhow easy is for BIN officials to manipulate their authority to
\nenrich themselves. According to Zyaeri's testimony in the court
\non Wednesday, the retired police officer printed fake money at
\nthe BIN office although his boss only ordered him to make an
\nintelligence study on fake money.<\/p>\n
Despite reforms and progress in enforcing democracy, the
\nmindset of the country's intelligence agencies apparently still
\nhave not changed significantly and also their massive presence in
\nthe society. People hope that intelligence agencies will boost
\nthe sense of security and safety in society. But the poisoning of
\nMunir showed it was still more effective in spreading fear
\ninstead. When will we be able to say we are proud of our
\nintelligence ability? When will we be able to say,\"We can live
\nwithout the press but not without intelligence,\" because the
\nagency is so vital in ensuring our prosperity and security.<\/p>\n
Now, why is it so difficult to arrest suspected Malaysian
\nterrorists Azahari and Nurdin Top? Is it because these two Malay
\ncriminals are smarter than our Malay agents? Of course these two
\nterrorists operate with computer technology: Intel inside.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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