An intelligence service for the President

The more intelligence agencies a regime maintains, the more it tends to be cruel. That, at least, is the conviction of liberals and democrats. For that reason, in countries that profess to be based on civil democratic principles and don't want to be called cruel, the number of intelligence agencies is trimmed to a minimum.

Whether or not Indonesia is a cruel country is a matter that is open to endless debate. However, it certainly has a considerable number of intelligence agencies -- such as Bakin (National Intelligence Coordinating Agency), BIA (Army Intelligence) and Bais (Military Strategic Intelligence). Besides, the public prosecutor's offices, the police and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have their own intelligence services.

Now, the government feels that all those intelligence bodies are not enough. Defense minister Mohammad Mahfud, in a working session with the House of Representatives' Commission I last Wednesday, revealed the government's plans to set up a new intelligence agency whose task -- and this is what makes it special -- is to provide information to the President, exclusively.

The minister did not elaborate further on the plan but we are inclined to believe that if this idea had come from President Abdurrahman Wahid, then the President may be having problems working with the existing intelligence services, in terms of either access or credibility. Even so, the solution is not to set up a special agency to serve the President because, as has already been said, intelligence services are symbols of mistrust and cruelty. It would be highly ironical if Gus Dur (Abdurrahman Wahid), who was elected in the name of reconciliation and peace, should start to develop a culture of mistrust by using intelligence officers.

-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta