Crush GAM if

Crush GAM if they betray

The public was shocked to learn from the army chief of staff Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu that the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) had shot Acehnese and members of the Indonesian military. According to the Indonesian military, since the signing of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement between the Indonesian government and GAM in Geneva, Switzerland, on Dec. 9, GAM has violated the agreement 24 times.

Prior to the signing of this agreement, some circles worried that it was difficult to trust the commitment of GAM to comply with the Geneva agreement. Now their worry has been justified. It seems that some units in GAM have continued to provoke hostility between GAM and the Indonesian military.

Of course, not all GAM resistance units will boycott the peace agreement but the violations referred to above strongly suggest a tendency towards boycotting the agreement.

The Indonesian military has decided not to pursue GAM following these violations. This shows that our military is not provoked and proves the military's commitment to support the peace agreement. However, this attitude will not be useful if GAM continues to violate the agreement.

Perhaps the military must consider crushing GAM units that have intentionally violated the peace agreement.

The greater public is really annoyed to see the defensive stance of the military vis-a-vis the offenses of GAM.

M. HASSAN

Bekasi, West Java