U.S. military training still open to Indonesia<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Although Indonesia no longer receives U.S. aid
\nto train its military officers, American education facilities are
\nstill available to members of the Indonesian Armed Forces, a
\nsenior official of the U.S. State Department said yesterday.<\/p>\n
The Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific
\nAffairs, Winston Lord, told reporters yesterday that Indonesia
\ncould still purchase the International Military and Education
\nTraining (IMET) programs.<\/p>\n
Lord suggested that both nations would benefit if Indonesia
\ncontinued to send its officers to train in the United States.<\/p>\n
These programs are not only for those who are interested in
\nhaving ties with Indonesia in general but also for those who are
\nfor "an open society, a moderate military and promoting human
\nrights", he said.<\/p>\n
Lord was speaking at the U.S. embassy after spending the day
\nmeeting with Indonesian officials, including Minister of Foreign
\nAffairs Ali Alatas, Coordinating Minister for Industry and Trade
\nHartarto and Minister of Trade Satrio B. Joedono.<\/p>\n
The U.S. government suspended all aid under the IMET programs
\nto Indonesia, worth an estimated $2 million a year, as a protest
\nover the way the Indonesian Armed Forces handled a demonstration
\nin Dili, East Timor, in 1992.<\/p>\n
Since then, Indonesia has switched to Australian training
\nfacilities.<\/p>\n
In another development, the U.S. Senate last month approved a
\nbill calling for a ban on sales of light arms to Indonesia until
\n"significant progress was made in East Timor".<\/p>\n
The decision, however, still has to pass through a House-
\nSenate conference committee where it will be resolved in
\naccordance to a similar bill which was passed earlier in May by
\nthe House of Representatives.<\/p>\n
Lord said the U.S. government has worked hard with the
\nCongress towards what it considers the "most constructive
\napproach" to the issue.<\/p>\n
East Timor<\/p>\n
"We do share the same concerns (with the Congress) on human
\nrights issues and the East Timor issue ... but we are also
\nworking to make clear that we didn't think the approach that was
\nbeing debated was the best way to go about this," he said.<\/p>\n
He added that he expected the result of the debates to be a
\nfinal outcome "which I think all of us can live with".<\/p>\n
Lord, who met with members of the National Commission on Human
\nRights and editors of the Suara Timor Timur daily, pointed out
\nthat the East Timor issue was important for both Indonesia and
\nthe U.S. and was discussed in the context of an over-all
\nrelationship.<\/p>\n
He said the "positive elements" of the two countries, such as
\ngrowing investment ties and good military access made it easier
\nfor both countries to discuss "as friends and as two great
\ncountries" whatever differences the two had.<\/p>\n
"We have continually raised the East Timor situation with our
\nIndonesian friends ... and hope there will be improvement and
\nreasonable progress in the situation," he said.<\/p>\n
Commenting on U.S. foreign policy, which is considered by many
\nobservers as giving the impression of uncertainty since Bill
\nClinton's presidency, Lord said the U.S. simply believes that
\nevery country must follow its own cultural and historical paths
\nand seek its own destiny.<\/p>\n
"We're not going to pursue these issues with any sense of
\narrogance or that people have to be like Americans, but we will
\ndiscuss universal principles," he said.<\/p>\n
He added that these fundamentals included the belief that open
\nsocieties would mean better and faster development in the present
\nera and that open societies would make better neighbors as they
\ndid not tend to produce terrorism, refugees or wage war on each
\nother. (pwn)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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