Is Aussie $12 syymaster more than meets the eye?
Is Aussie $12 syymaster more than meets the eye?
By Lela E. Madjiah
JAKARTA (JP): Australia takes great pride in its military. Its leading role in the International Force in East Timor (Interfet) has swelled its self-confidence to such an extent that it sees itself as the future "cop" for Asia.
The controversial "Howard doctrine", which appeared in Bulletin magazine last year, depicted Prime Minister John Howard as saying Australia planned to become U.S. "deputy sheriff" in Asia. In December 1999, Australia's defense chief Adm. Chris Barrie said Australia could become a security linchpin.
On Wednesday, April 19, thousands of Sydney residents gave a hero's welcome to about 1,700 troops returning from East Timor.
"They followed in a great Australian military tradition ... to defend what is right, the right to live in freedom and peace," Howard said in welcoming the troops.
Howard's praise of his troops came a few days after the military commander of the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), Lt. Gen. Jaime de los Santos, apologized to Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Adm. Widodo AS over a spying incident involving an Australian soldier.
The spying incident was uncovered after East Nusa Tenggara Police arrested Paul Tallo Alberto, 25, on April 6. Alberto confessed that he was paid Rp 100,000 (about US$12) by a Sgt. Pearson for a four-day mission in West Timor to collect information about suspected militia bases in the border areas around Atambua.
A UN Force investigation into the East Nusa Tenggara Police's findings confirmed Alberto's confession, prompting an apology from De los Santos.
Maj. Gen. Peter Cosgrove, former Interfet commander who was presented with the highest award within the Order of Australia by Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in March for his role in restoring peace in East Timor, defended the $12 spymaster as well-meaning.
"You can't see it in any other way than the young man striving in this way -- which probably turned out to be misguided -- to achieve a bit of extra foreknowledge on the activities of these marauding militia," Cosgrove said as quoted by AFP.
"It was not appropriate, but we should probably keep it in the context that this was quite a junior man who was acting in a well-intentioned and misguided way."
Cosgrove added the man should not be harshly punished for his actions.
His argument was surprisingly accommodating. First, he "blamed" the soldier's youthfulness as the reason behind his misguided act. Second, he described the unauthorized act as well- intentioned.
Coming from Cosgrove, the argument was rather disappointing. How could he, a respected soldier, label a wrongful act as well- intentioned, especially regarding a country against whom Australia has shown distrust, hostility, if not enmity?
The incident also raises a few questions about the Australian military that boasts of professionalism. Whatever happens to the chain of command there that a soldier can take his own initiative?
"Since when a sergeant can take his own initiative?" a high- ranking UN official told The Jakarta Post when asked to comment on the incident.
One can only imagine if every soldier within the Australian military is allowed to take his own initiative, which will be brushed aside as misguided but well-intentioned. Moreover, the sergeant was not in a life-and-death situation where he was forced to make critical decisions.
The $12-spy incident involving Australia came to light probably by sheer luck. Indonesia has repeatedly accused Australia of conducting secret operations in East Timor to support the Falintil, the armed faction of the Fretilin, prior to the Aug. 30, 1999 ballot.
In February, Indonesian defense minister Juwono Sudarsono backed TNI allegations that Australian forces operated covertly in East Timor.
Juwono admitted to possessing no hard evidence to back allegations of covert Australian incursions, adding hard evidence "is very hard to clarify."
"But you know the nearness of Darwin and the fact that our troops heard night-flying helicopters and even sea landings make it very hard for us not to believe it was to support the Falintil," Juwono told the Sydney Morning Herald in an interview in Jakarta.
The Herald reported earlier in October that elite Special Air Services (SAS) troops were operating covertly in East Timor since April 1999. The newspaper quoted a senior defense source as revealing navy divers and members of Australia's highly secretive SAS were operating in the territory months before the United Nations authorized the deployment of peacekeepers in September.
According to the newspaper, the covert forces filed daily reports on Indonesian troop movements and the operations of pro- Indonesian militia groups.
The elite Australian troops were reportedly inserted by helicopters flying at low altitude to avoid detection by radar. Indonesian officers suspected the flights involved covert shipments of weapons to independence fighters, the newspaper wrote.
Australia has denied all the allegations, but a high-ranking UN official has confirmed that Indonesia's suspicions of the weapon shipments was well-founded.
"The Falintil, that is now divided into companies instead of regions, has weapons stashed at different places," the UN official told the Post last week.
He also said that George Hermes Simon, a former member of Australian intelligence who worked for the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET), was still in East Timor.
Hermes served with UNAMET despite Indonesia's objection. His presence in East Timor came to light after two Indonesian police officers recognized him as Army intelligence from when underwent training in Australia.
The incidents fanned skepticism whether Australia was acting in good faith toward Indonesia.
"There was general distrust from the beginning," Juwono Sudarsono said as quoted by the Herald in February.
Juwono was referring to a meeting in Hawaii last year of Australian and U.S. military officials whom he said had anticipated there would be a high degree of conflict in East Timor if security was put in the hands of Indonesia.
Now that East Timor is separate from Indonesia and is gearing toward normalcy, there is hope that the strained relations between Indonesia and Australia are healing. The spy incident, however, leaves room for doubt about Australia's intentions. It also backs suspicions that Australia is determined to play U.S. "deputy sheriff" in Asia.
Analysts say Australia's stance could be viewed as aggressive and likely to cause trouble in a region sensitive to a perceived overlording stance by western nations.
"Howard's already made clear his basic attitude, that Asia's role is to receive Australian values," Harold Crouch of the Australian National University was quoted as saying by Reuters in December.
"This could easily be misinterpreted and cause an adverse reaction, especially in Jakarta. There'd be concern Australia planned to intervene in some other areas such as Irian Jaya or Aceh, no matter how unlikely," Crouch added.
In Indonesia, Australia's act has fomented strong anti-West feelings. Indonesia's Muslim fundamentalists see the West as a representation of Christianity and the events in East Timor as a confrontation between Islam and Catholicism.
There are also suspicions that the East Timor crisis was a scheme to support a U.S. plan for the establishment of a U.S.- controlled NATO-type military alliance in the region. At least three countries -- Australia, the U.S. and Portugal -- have approached the Falintil to offer military cooperation.
A UN source said last week Australia had begun drilling exercises for Falintil members. NATO sources said earlier this month that Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres would finalize talks of Australia's plan to build a military base in East Timor during his visit to Dili next month.
Cosgrove may dismiss the spy case as the act of a misguided junior officer, but it belies something more complicated which may affect Indonesia's national security.
The writer is a Jakarta-based journalist.