Military solution to Aceh

Military solution to Aceh

From Republika

According to students in Aceh, a limited dialog between the
Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) is
impossible in the province.

GAM will continue its armed operation with civilians used as
shields, while the police and the military are provoked into
haphazardly countering GAM's actions.

The victims will be the innocent civilians. The people of Aceh
are the ones who suffer in this situation.

It is not easy for the parties involved to escape from the
quandary that is Aceh. The people need a guarantee from the
military and the police that they will be protected from attacks
by GAM. This would require a sophisticated territorial operation
such as the military operation conducted during the New Order
era.

With the current weakened condition of military intelligence
and territorial operations, GAM has managed to intimidate the
people of Aceh. To respond to GAM's guerrilla actions, the
military and the police must have excellent knowledge of the
territory. And they must teach the people to correctly identify
the enemy.

The Aceh administration, from the district to the provincial
level, is ambivalent, while the people are afraid of GAM. GAM has
psychologically overwhelmed all layers of society in Aceh: the
administration, the people, the business community, intellectuals
and civil servants.

It is not impossible that this situation will continue,
particularly considering the people's increasing distrust of the
central government.

There must be a special treatment for Aceh. A military
operation may be the best option, and we will pay for that.

YUN AGUNG PRATAMA, Jakarta