Military systems<\/p>\n
If I am not mistaken, the visiting U.S. defense secretary
\nsaid: \"If the military remains in power in Indonesia, diplomatic
\nsanctions and an economic embargo will be slapped on Indonesia\".
\nHis statement was reported during the Sept. 29 SCTV private
\ntelevision evening news broadcast.<\/p>\n
There may well be a basic difference concerning the \"military\"
\nin the United States and in Indonesia. In the U.S., the military
\nconstitutes troops as a real part of a hierarchical command
\nsystem. They perform a sole function and are real professionals.
\nThey are not contaminated by any dual or multifunctions. It is
\nclear that they are under the hierarchical system of people's
\nsovereignty. In the language of an advanced society, they are
\nunder the democratic management of a civilian government. In
\nterms of the theory and practice of a state system, the former is
\na subsystem of the latter, and not the other way around.<\/p>\n
The U.S. system of democracy does not recognize a method of
\nappointment, a method which contaminates democracy. In short,
\n\"from the people, by the people and for the people\". It seems
\nthat recruitment in all institutions labeled with the term
\n\"people\" must be through fair and transparent elections. Soldiers
\nare assigned to face foreign foes; they are not supposed to be
\n\"hostile\" to their own people or treat people as their enemies.
\nShould there be enemies at home, then the state's police will
\ndeal with them; the police will definitely not resort to
\nrepressive methods. Explanations like \"procedural mistakes on the
\npart of civilians\" does not seem to exist in the vocabulary of
\nU.S. soldiers, although it might have existed at the time of
\nroughneck soldiers.<\/p>\n
In our country since 1966 the hierarchical system of people's
\nsovereignty has been under the control of the military system.
\nWith their dual function, soldiers do not seem to prepare
\nthemselves against foreign foes but rather concern themselves
\nwith domestic sociopolitical affairs, the turf of civilians. For
\nover three decades and maybe more, the people as a whole have
\nexperienced the impact of the dual function of the armed forces.
\nThis impact must have been monitored and detected by other
\nnations. Remember that the intelligence agencies of the U.S.,
\nBritain and France, to name only a few, are second to none.<\/p>\n
Directly or otherwise, it seems that East Timor will be used
\nby other nations which care to \"straighten out\" democracy
\nIndonesian-style to conform to the democracy which generally
\napplies around the world. This is the first thing to take note
\nof. The second is that the majority of our nation's elite often
\nforget or pretend to overlook the fact that the essential parts
\nof the Constitution drawn up by our founding fathers are positive
\nas they have as their origin in the constitutions of advanced
\nnations. Unfortunately, our ruling regimes since 1959 have not
\nbeen able to apply these essential parts of the constitution.<\/p>\n
In the case of nations like Iraq which have been subjected to
\ndiplomatic sanctions or economic embargoes, the impact is not
\nfelt by the ruling regime, who is only a minority, but by the
\nmajority of civilians who suffer both spiritually and materially.<\/p>\n
A library study shows that the best choice for members of the
\nPeople's Consultative Assembly, the majority of whom are
\ncivilians, now convened for the General Session should be to use
\nthe prerogative right of a global civil society to correct any
\nirregularities. Make sure that everything conforms to
\ninternational standards because failure in this mission will mean
\ndepriving the Indonesian people of any possible benefits.<\/p>\n
SUNGKOWO SOKAWERA<\/p>\n
Bandung, West Java<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/military-systems-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }