U.S. plans to resume military training<\/p>\n
Agencies, Washington\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
The United States, eager to build up its alliances in Southeast
\nAsia, has decided to resume training members of the Indonesian
\narmed forces after cooperation was suspended in 1992, officials
\nannounced on Sunday.<\/p>\n
"Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has determined that
\nIndonesia has satisfied legislative conditions for restarting its
\nfull International Military Education and Training program,"
\nState Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in a statement.<\/p>\n
"The department expects that Indonesia's resumption of full
\ninternational military education and training will strengthen its
\nongoing democratic progress and advance cooperation in other
\nareas of mutual concern," the spokesman was quoted as saying by
\nAgence France Presse.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Military (TNI) hailed on Sunday the United
\nStates' decision to resume the training program for its members,
\nand promised to use it to improve its professionalism.<\/p>\n
"The TNI welcomes any form of cooperation which can concretely
\nenhance our professionalism in the field," TNI deputy spokesman
\nCol. Ahmad Yani Basuki told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
However, he declined to comment further, saying that TNI
\nHeadquarters had not yet received details of the decision.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's participation in the program has been essentially
\non hold since 1992, when the Indonesian military launched a
\nbloody crackdown against pro-independence protesters in East
\nTimor.<\/p>\n
The sanctions were further tightened in 1999, after the
\nIndonesian army was accused of killing about 1,500 people in East
\nTimor in an unsuccessful bid to prevent the territory from
\ngaining independence.<\/p>\n
The ban was effectively written into law by the U.S. Congress
\nin 2002, when U.S. lawmakers insisted that generals in Jakarta
\nwere blocking an investigation into the killing of two U.S.
\nschool teachers in Indonesia's Papua province.<\/p>\n
But Indonesian authorities have since taken steps to improve
\ncooperation with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and
\nbrought murder and illegal firearms charges against Indonesian
\ncitizen Anthonius Wamang, a member of a Papuan separatist group.<\/p>\n
Moreover, the administration of President George W. Bush has
\nrepeatedly stressed the importance of broadening post-September
\n11 counterterrorism cooperation with Indonesia, the world's
\nlargest Muslim nation.<\/p>\n
There was no immediate word on where Indonesian military
\npersonnel will be trained and what kind of courses will be
\noffered to them.<\/p>\n
But the decision caps a quiet lobbying campaign by top
\nPentagon officials led by Deputy Defense Secretary Paul
\nWolfowitz, who has openly advocated the view that congressional
\nrestrictions on military-to-military contacts with countries like
\nIndonesia and Pakistan were hurting U.S. interests more than
\nhelping them.<\/p>\n
Following his tour of tsunami-hit countries in January,
\nWolfowitz came out strongly in favor of opening the doors of U.S.
\nmilitary academies to Indonesian officers.<\/p>\n
He cited the case of newly elected Indonesian President,
\nSusilo Bambang Yudhoyono, whom he described as "a democratic
\nreformer" and one of the last military officers trained in the
\nUnited States.<\/p>\n
"I think we can have a more positive influence that way," the
\ndeputy defense secretary pointed out.<\/p>\n
Wolfowitz also called for finding ways to resume U.S. military
\ncooperation with Indonesia, because he said the country was
\n"moving in an impressive way" toward democracy.<\/p>\n
But he cautioned against opening the floodgates of military
\nassistance, pointing to "the need to calibrate these things
\ncarefully."<\/p>\n
Rice hinted that a decision on Indonesian military training
\nwas imminent more than a week ago when she told a Senate panel
\nshe was in the "final stages" of consultations with Congress on
\nthe subject<\/p>\n
Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa has
\nsaid a resumption of the training program would serve as a
\n"correction for an anomaly."<\/p>\n
Military analyst Andi Widjajanto from the University of
\nIndonesia said he hoped the resumption of the training and
\neducation program would boost Indonesia's efforts to reform the
\nTNI.<\/p>\n
"I believe that this program can lead to a new atmosphere of
\ndemocracy. I hope the United States will also provide further
\nassistance that can help our country define its defense concept
\nin line with the spirit of reform," he told the Post.<\/p>",
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