Attacks may prompt resumption of U.S.-TNI ties
Attacks may prompt resumption of U.S.-TNI ties
Matt Kelley, Associated Press, Washington
The United States is increasing its pressure on Indonesia's
government to crack down on Islamic militants in the wake of the
weekend bombing on Bali that killed nearly 200 people, mostly
foreigners.
The bombing also may boost the arguments of top Pentagon
officials who want to resume ties with Indonesia's military that
Congress severed because of the army's systematic atrocities
against civilians.
"This is the first and most powerful recognition that the
battle against terrorism is not strictly limited to the Middle
East or south Asia," said Kurt Campbell, a former Defense
Department adviser now with the Center for Strategic and
International Studies. "Human rights worries in the short term
will be overridden by national security concerns."
The car bomb that exploded on the resort island of Bali on
Saturday killed more than 180 people and forced Indonesia's
government to acknowledge for the first time on Monday that al-
Qaeda is active in the southeast Asian archipelago. Some of
Indonesia's neighbors, particularly Singapore, have complained
that Indonesia has been reluctant to crack down on Islamic
militants.
President George W. Bush turned up the pressure on Monday on
Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri. Speaking to
reporters at the White House, Bush said he planned to speak to
Megawati about the attack, which killed at least two Americans.
"I want to make it clear to her that we need to work together
to find those who murdered all those innocent people and bring
them to justice," Bush said. "And I hope I hear the resolve of a
leader that recognizes that any time terrorists take hold in a
country it is going to weaken the country itself. There has to be
a firm and deliberate desire to find the killers before they kill
somebody else."
The comments suggest Bush is looking for results from the
assistance the United States has pledged for Indonesia's anti-
terrorism fight. Congress passed legislation this summer giving
Indonesia's police force $16 million, including $12 million to
set up a special anti-terrorism unit.
When Secretary of State Colin Powell visited Indonesia in
August, he announced a $50 million, three-year anti-terrorism
assistance package for the Jakarta government, including $400,000
to restart an exchange program for high-level military officers.
Congress would have to approve the exchange program, which was
among the contacts forbidden after the Indonesian military's
bloody suppression of dissent in now-independent East Timor.
Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, a former U.S.
ambassador to Jakarta, has been pushing for expanded ties to
Indonesia's military. The only way to persuade Indonesia's
military to support democracy and human rights and effectively
fight terrorism is to work with it, Wolfowitz has argued.
U.S. officials say they fear Indonesia, the world's largest
predominantly Muslim country with 210 million people, could
become a breeding ground for Islamic radicalism. With more than
13,000 islands spread across 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers),
there are plenty of places to hide.