Boyce's job in Indonesia

Boyce's job in Indonesia

The new U.S. ambassador to Indonesia, Ralph L. Boyce,
has surely found out that his job here will not be a
boring one. When the massive anti-American
demonstrations by political parties and Islamic
organizations that took place following the U.S. bombing
campaign in Afghanistan seemed to have become a thing of the
past, school children and students of secondary
educational institutes in Jakarta stopped before the
American embassy demanding that the American military
attacks should spare the innocent children of
Afghanistan. The ambassador may have wondered why
nobody has reminded the demonstrators that the tons of
food aid dropped by the U.S. and international
humanitarian aid agencies from the air are meant to
benefit the children as well.

On another occasion Ambassador Boyce was also asked to demand
that the American government stop its bombing campaign for a
month during the (holy) fasting month of Ramadhan. He did not
betray any sense of irritation when answering the question
coming from the suspicious audience. Perhaps he found
the session interesting in that he could learn more of
bahasa Indonesia, which he is trying to master as a diplomat.

Of course, when further pressed, Boyce could not say
or deny publicly whether the al Qaeda had already made
inroads into Indonesia. But what he could say is that
there are still those who expressed sympathy for the
Bin Laden cause even after his supporters had to give
up Kabul and other cities and are apparently in
disarray. The official U.S. sentiment in Washington seems
to be one of high suspicion that some members of society
are supporters of Bin Laden although they are in the
minority.

GANDHI SUKARDI

Jakarta