As tiny East Timor celebrates its independence today, its

As tiny East Timor celebrates its independence today, its giant neighbor Indonesia confronts a new reality.

Two influential United States lawmakers -- Republican Senator Lincoln Chafee and Democratic Senator Russell Feingold -- have moved a resolution calling for "robust" American aid for the nascent half-island state.

They urge President George W. Bush to bring to justice the senior Indonesian officials who promoted the 1999 anti- independence violence in East Timor.

They want Jakarta to disarm the militiamen, hold them accountable to the rule of law and ensure stability at the border separating East and Indonesian-controlled West Timor.

To add sting to the resolution, the lawmakers say they will be "maintaining appropriate restrictions and prohibitions in law on military assistance, training, relations and technical support to the Indonesian Armed Forces".

Seized with democracy and human rights, and excited about East Timor's emancipation, the lawmakers want to seek redress for the death and destruction caused by pro-Jakarta militia forces in 1999.

This puts the Bush administration in a bind. The Americans are in two minds about Indonesia.

The Bush administration wants to restore military ties with Jakarta as it steps up the war against terrorism, but the lawmakers in Congress are unmoved.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is fighting an uphill battle to persuade them to provide funds and lift the sanctions imposed on Indonesia.

The House Appropriations Committee has rejected two proposals to give Jakarta aid, citing a lack of progress in prosecuting those responsible for human-rights abuses in East Timor.

The Bush administration had offered US$18 million (S$32.4 million) to the cash-strapped Indonesian government to train the police in counter-terrorism and intelligence-gathering.

The money was also earmarked for training courses to help Jakarta track the banking accounts of terrorist groups, and for beefing up its forces to deal with sectarian strife in Maluku and elsewhere.

But the lawmakers refuse to open the kitty. This is a question of priorities which they must decide quickly.

The bifurcated policy has to change or America's global war on terror could trip over its intransigence on human rights.

Washington is a bundle of contradictions, as another case illustrates. There is pending in the Senate a trade Bill that may undercut the administration's anti-terror campaign in South-east Asia.

The new legislation has a provision eliminating import taxes on canned tuna from Andean nations, while levies remain in place for other countries.

This threatens the livelihood of fishermen in the southern Philippines, where American troops are helping President Gloria Arroyo to flush out the Abu Sayyaf rebels.

Indonesian Defense Minister Matori Abdul Djalil, who had talks with Rumsfeld in Washington recently, lamented that Indonesia was suffering from the U.S. military embargo.

For three years now, Indonesia has military planes which cannot fly and ships which cannot patrol its vast archipelago for want of American spare parts.

The Indonesians have undertaken reforms to establish the principle of civilian supremacy over the military. A new law on anti-terrorism will be submitted to the Indonesian Parliament next month.

But President Megawati Soekarnoputri is unlikely to deliver all that the Americans demand, particularly with regard to military accountability in East Timor.

It was only under intense international pressure that the Indonesians agreed to prosecute several senior officers responsible for human-rights violations there.

Congressional resistance is not the only hurdle to Washington's quick normalization of military ties with Indonesia. There are other problems as well.

Some Muslim factions in the Indonesian Parliament oppose the anti-terrorism Bill, arguing that it gives the security forces a free hand to crack down on political dissidents, besides radical Islamic groups.

The Indonesian government itself is divided, with Vice- President Hamzah Haz consorting with Islamic militant leader Jafaar Umar Thalib to win Muslim votes.

Dr Greg Fealy, a research fellow in Indonesian politics at the Australian National University, said President Megawati had to do more than just arrest Jafaar.

She has to disband Jafaar's Laskar Jihad, a paramilitary anti- Christian group, and expel its fighters from Maluku, Sulawesi and Papua, where they had been fomenting violence, he said.

All this will take resources and political will, but Megawati has little of both. As America's lawmakers procrastinate over the normalization of ties with the Indonesian armed forces, the Islamic militants will get emboldened.

Laskar Jihad fighters are bent on scuttling a peace deal that Jakarta had brokered between the warring Muslim and Christian groups in Ambon.

And even if Megawati gets American aid, she has to exercise control. Recently, troops from the elite Kopassus force fought with the police in Ambon instead of keeping the peace.

Indonesian legislator Ibrahim Ambong said this proved that the security forces were incapable of getting their act together.

U.S. military aid might not be able to stiffen up Megawati's resolve to rein in the Islamic militants, but it would give her more resources to deal with them, said Sukardi Rinakit, an analyst in Jakarta's Center for Political Studies.

To be sure, Indonesia's poorly-equipped armed forces can do better with more American hardware and money.

Said Ralph Cossa, president of the Pacific Forum at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Honolulu: "The biggest fear of the Bush administration is that Indonesia becomes a safe haven for terrorists fleeing from Afghanistan and Pakistan, and that Al-Qaeda will use Indonesia as a place to regroup, with Indonesian radicals providing support."

But while the Bush administration has revised its post-Sept. 11 strategic priorities to wage war on terror, Congress has not -- in Indonesia's case.

The obstinacy does not help President Bush when he is reaching out to moderate Islamic states.

There is no certainty that America's lawmakers are ready to snap out of their obsessive preoccupation with human-rights lapses in East Timor.

They are taking this stand even though President Xanana Gusmao has said his primary objective is alleviating poverty in East Timor, not seeking retribution for the wrongs done to his people.

By refusing to lift the military embargo and provide funds, the U.S. Congress is holding back help when Megawati is showing signs that she is prepared to rein in the Islamic militants.

Cossa said the lawmakers were "extremely shortsighted" in denying the Indonesians military aid.

He told The Straits Times: "Indonesian military support is essential to national cohesion and the ultimate success of democracy in Indonesia.

'Congress' focus is more on past accountability than on the current crackdown... We should keep our eyes more on the future than on the past."