Military insiders cold-shoulder terrorist agency

Military insiders cold-shoulder terrorist agency

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesian Military Commander Adm. Widodo's antiterrorism
agency proposal has received more criticism -- this time from
within military circles.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Endriartono Sutarto sees no urgency
to establish such an agency because, in his opinion, it would be
more efficient to improve coordination among existing
intelligence agencies.

"Moreover, terrorist attacks happen only once in a while and
are not yet a serious threat," he told reporters at the TNI
headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta, on Friday.

Endriartono, however, admitted that the military may not be
able to handle terrorism alone even though the Army has the elite
Kopassus 81 Antiterrorist Unit.

"At present, the unit is only trained to crack down on
terrorists, but not to anticipate or prevent terrorist attacks,"
Endriartono said.

The debate on the antiterrorism agency started last week when
Adm. Widodo told House Commission I on political, security and
foreign affairs that the country needed an antiterrorist agency
to formulate policies and operational strategies to counter
terrorism at all levels.

Widodo said the agency was needed because geographically,
Indonesia was vulnerable to infiltration by international
terrorists.

He acknowledged that "none of the country's existing
intelligence bodies were prepared to counter terrorism".
Indonesia already has the National Intelligence Agency, TNI's
Strategic Intelligence Body, the National Police Intelligence
Body and other intelligence units in nonmilitary institutions,
such as the immigration office and the Attorney General's Office.

The idea won spontaneous support from House members but met
strong rejection from human rights activists who feared that the
agency would be empowered with extrajudicial authority.

Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said that the government would have to
consider public opinion before it decided to set up the agency.

"There are a lot of things to consider," he said.

Criticism has also come from former minister of defense Juwono
Sudarsono, who says that the government needs new regulations on
budgeting, personnel and coordination to establish the agency.

"And this will take some time to materialize, while terrorist
attacks already pose a real threat," he said.

"But if we are serious about setting up the agency, I suggest
the government build strong links with the Ministry of Finance,
and other institutions dealing with funds, such as the central
bank. Remember, terrorist groups in the U.S. and Britain pass
their funds through these institutions," he said.