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