Bush erred on Indonesian military training: Report
Bush erred on Indonesian military training: Report
Agence France-Presse, Washington
President George W. Bush misspoke last week when he said the United States was ready to launch new military training programs with Indonesia, according to administration officials cited in Monday's Washington Post.
No new programs are planned or have been approved, the administration officials told the daily, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"We want to move ahead with increased military-to-military cooperation with Indonesia, which is in both of our interests," one senior official said.
But progress on that front "will be pinned on continued cooperation from Indonesia on the investigation into the murders of two Americans" in Papua, the official went on.
"The investigation is moving forward due to the improved cooperation by the Indonesia government."
Two Americans were killed and eight others were wounded in August 2002 when unidentified gunmen opened fire on a convoy carrying employees of the U.S.-owned Freeport copper and gold mine near Timika in Indonesia's easternmost province.
In an Oct. 14 interview with Indonesia's SCTV, ahead of his trip to Asia, Bush was asked if the slaying of two U.S. citizens in Papua had changed U.S. military policy toward Indonesia.
"No, as a matter of fact, we're going to discuss mil-to-mil relations between Indonesia," the U.S. president replied.
"For awhile, the Congress put restrictions on it. But now the Congress has changed their attitude, and I think we can go forward with a package of mil-to-mil cooperation because of the cooperation of the government on the killings of two U.S. citizens," Bush said.
Congressional opposition to renewed U.S. military training in Indonesia -- mostly halted over the 1999 bloodshed in East Timor -- has in fact grown since closed-door hearings in May, when a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst testified that military personnel were seeking to withhold evidence in the Papua murders from FBI agents, the Post said.
Jakarta receives other types of military assistance, notably counterterrorism training, from Washington.