Please drop your suspicious attitude

Please drop your suspicious attitude

Certain readers of The Jakarta Post need to drop their
suspicious attitude regarding the motives of the armies and NGOs
that have arrived in the Acehnese province. Though the
Indonesians I know from my time in Sumatra are invariably kind
and open, a letter in your paper indicates malicious attitudes
from at least one individual toward the considerable resources
and manpower afforded to helping your unfortunate compatriots
from the western countries.

They would do better to analyze the dubious history of their
own country's military actions before casting suspicion our way.
It is absurd to suggest that the Australians, the Americans or
any other rescue operation intends to hand out guns to the
Acehnese rebels, particularly when those guns might well be
trained on our soldiers and relief workers.

Remember that although we are not Muslim nations, Australia
and the U.S. now share a strong bond with Indonesia, and that is
the bond of democracy. Particularly against the backdrop of the
international war on terror, I can assure you that neither
country would do anything to threaten or destabilize a democratic
ally, Muslim or not, unless unduly provoked.

To imply that we would support a theocratic insurgency that
advocates instituting sharia law, against an important strategic
and economic ally implies a profound misunderstanding of our
political interests. To suggest, furthermore, that a humanitarian
relief effort might be the "Trojan Horse" the western countries
may use to overthrow or destabilize any country is the epitome of
cynicism.

You would do better to be concerned for the safety of the
American soldiers laid up in the hospital from the relief
helicopter that crashed recently. One of your readers certainly
seems to forget the importance of self-determination when he
offers this myopic bit of historical revisionism: "We should be
aware that it's possible that Australia helped East Timor to gain
independence so that they could steal the gas in the East Timor
sea."

East Timor held a legally recognized referendum for self-
determination, for which they were rewarded with brutality and
repression by the Indonesian military, which illegal actions are
now being investigated, by your own government. The only stealing
that occurred in East Timor was in 1975, when the dictator, to
his lasting shame, killed twice as many innocents as the tsunami
in Aceh. In a sad, ironic twist, my country supplied the guns.

A. GALLIGANI
New York