Indonesia congratulates Bush, expects stronger ties
Indonesia congratulates Bush, expects stronger ties
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja
and M. Taufiqurrahman
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
The government congratulated President George W. Bush on Thursday
over his reelection and expressed a hope for stronger ties with
the world's only superpower country.
"The government of Indonesia congratulates President George W.
Bush and Vice President Richard B. Cheney on their re-election
and wish them success in their second term in dealing with the
various challenges facing both the United States and the world,"
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono himself was expected to
call Bush on Friday to congratulate him.
Analysts, however, doubted on Thursday whether Bush's
reelection would bring about any change in bilateral ties between
Indonesia and the United States.
Bantarto Bandoro of the Centre for Strategic and International
Studies (CSIS) said that the support for Bush in Tuesday's
election indicated that the incumbent won the approval of U.S.
citizens to continue his war on terrorism.
"The Bush administration will continue to pursue the war on
terrorism and Indonesia will therefore be affected by this,"
Bantarto told The Jakarta Post.
He said terrorism would remain a global threat and cooperation
between countries would be indispensable to ward off the menace.
"Cooperation in the fight against terrorism will bring
Indonesia, the U.S. and Australia closer together," he said,
adding that the war on terror would receive wider support if the
Bush administration took a more benign approach in its
implementation.
Dewi Fortuna Anwar of the Indonesian Institute for Sciences
(LIPI) said that the government could not expect a speedy
resumption of the military relationship between the two
countries.
The U.S. imposed a military embargo on the Indonesian Military
(TNI), following allegations that gross human rights abuses had
taken place after East Timor separated from Indonesia in 1999.
"The problem does not lie with the Bush administration, but
with the U.S. Congress, which wants to maintain the embargo. In
fact, President Bush wanted to resume the military ties early in
his first administration," she told the Post.
When asked about the resistance from groups that resent the
Bush antiterror drive, which they perceive as targeting Muslims
around the world, Dewi said: "It depends on whether the
Indonesian government manages to dispel the suspicion that it
merely bows down to U.S. interests."
She also said that such resistance would not materialize if
the Bush administration pursued its antiterror drive prudently.