Revamping intelligence<\/p>\n
After a year of bewildering maneuvers and statements coming
\nfrom state officials, the government this week announced plans to
\nrevamp the state intelligence services in order to obtain
\naccurate information and intelligence data. The news was
\nannounced on Wednesday by Coordinating Minister for Political,
\nSocial and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.<\/p>\n
Susilo told reporters the present central intelligence agency,
\nthe State Intelligence Coordinating Board (Bakin) would be given
\nthe name of National Intelligence Agency (BIN). Separately,
\nMinister of Defense Mahfud M.D. said his office would also set up
\nan intelligence agency outside of both BIN and the Indonesian
\nMilitary Strategic Intelligence Agency (BAIS).<\/p>\n
\"With Bakin's reorganization, the government hopes to improve
\nthe capacity of the state intelligence board because accurate
\ninformation and intelligence data are needed in making decisions
\nand policies,\" Susilo explained, adding that BIN would have
\ngreater authority than Bakin, because the latter merely exercises
\na coordinating function.<\/p>\n
That the state's intelligence services are in need of
\nimprovement, of that there is no doubt. In fact, what they need
\nis not merely an enhancement of their performance, but a full-
\nblown overhaul, most especially in the way they think and look at
\nproblems deemed a threat to national security.<\/p>\n
A well known assessment by state intelligence officials of the
\nNew Order regime of former president Soeharto was that in future
\ndecades, no threats to national security are expected to come
\nfrom without. Any threats to the state will come from inside the
\ncountry -- in other words, from segments of the Indonesian
\npopulation. Hence, the harsh treatment given to dissenting
\ncitizens.<\/p>\n
Hence, also the power and privileged status of intelligence
\nofficers under the past regime. It was widely believed at that
\ntime that favored candidates for important government posts were
\nadjutants of the President, officials of Bakin and officers of
\nthe Army's Special Force (Kopassus) -- in that order.<\/p>\n
That not much has changed during the last couple of years in
\nthe way our state intelligence services look at the country's
\nproblems is confirmed by the continuing unrest in Aceh, Maluku,
\nIrian Jaya and several other trouble spots in the archipelago. It
\nis clear that with their outmoded way of thinking they are
\nincapable of resolving those problems.<\/p>\n
If further proof is needed, one only has to look at the absurd
\nactions and statements that have come from some of our highest
\nstate officials -- remember for example the charge of Australian
\nspies operating in Atambua, or of the American threat of an
\nembargo, or the capture in Bandung of an alleged accomplice of
\nthe bombing of the Jakarta Stock Exchange.<\/p>\n
In all those instances one might almost think that the
\ngovernment was made a victim of a conscious campaign of
\ndisinformation. Clearly, this state of affairs cannot be allowed
\nto continue during the present era of reform. The culture of
\nintelligence activities has become so ingrained in Indonesian
\nsociety that it is now difficult to change. Every time violence
\nbreaks out, Indonesians assume that some sinister mastermind must
\nbe at work.<\/p>\n
One last warning needs to be raised in this context: In
\noverhauling the intelligence services, it is of the utmost
\nimportance that intelligence bodies such as the proposed BIN be
\nled by civilians. Indonesia neither needs nor wants to recreate
\nthe kind of manipulative military intelligence bodies whose main
\ntask appeared to be to engineer incidents to provide the
\nauthorities with a pretext to clamp down on political dissent.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/revamping-intelligence-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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