Prabowo in list of rising stars shot down in their prime

Prabowo in list of rising stars shot down in their prime

By Lela E. Madjiah

This is the first of two articles exploring the history of
Indonesia's fallen officers.

JAKARTA (JP): Like a morning star that shines brightly for a
brief moment before it is eclipsed by the rising sun and fades
away, Prabowo Subianto's military career disappeared before his
eyes.

Shortly after his promotion to the rank of three-star general,
the pinnacle of his military career, Prabowo was discharged from
a carefully planned career designed to fulfill his dream of
becoming the number one man in the Indonesian military, possibly
even in the republic itself.

Prabowo's fall from grace was far from unique. Indeed, the
history of the Indonesian military is rife with stories of
officers who lost their jobs for political and ideological
reasons.

However, unlike Prabowo, who was honorably discharged for his
role in the kidnapping and torture of political activists, most
of his predecessors in the list of fallen generals were dismissed
for their involvement in different, if not noble, causes.

Unlike Prabowo, whose involvement in the abduction and torture
of political activists was considered to be a disgrace to the
military, his predecessors, with a few exceptions, lost their
jobs but never their dignity. Depending on one's point of view,
one might agree that some of the rebellious officers' actions
were justified.

Stories of these controversial officers abound in books and
articles dedicated to discussing the many conflicts, uprisings
and rebellions in the country which were either led or supported
by military officers. Their stories reflect a restlessness on the
part of the military that has claimed many good officers as its
victims, some of them the best the country has ever had.

The Indonesian military and its tumultuous history has
inspired local and foreign military analysts to write volumes on
the subject. Darul Islam dan Kartosuwirjo: Angan-Angan Yang Gagal
by Holk H. Dengel; Darul Islam: Sebuah Pemberontakan by C. Van
Dijk; Permesta: Half a Rebellion by Barbara S. Harvey;
Tradition, Islam and Rebellion: South Sulawesi 1950-1965, also by
Harvey; PRRI Permesta: Strategi Membangun Indonesia Tanpa Komunis
by R.Z. Leirissa; Pemberontakan Meniti Jalur Kanan by M. Bahar
Mattalioe; Abdul Qahhar Mudzakkar: Dari Patriot Hingga
Pemberontak by Anhar Gonggong; Rebels in Paradise by James
Mossman and Birds' Nests in their Beards by William Stevenson,
are just some of the titles that discuss the conflicts and
rebellions in Indonesia from the early days of independence and
throughout president Sukarno's rule.

The books and articles reveal the involvement of such highly
respected officers as Col. A. E. Kawilarang, a former commander
of the renowned Siliwangi Division who initiated the
establishment of the Army's Special Force (Kopassus) in the early
1950s; Col. Zulkifli Lubis, deputy chief of the Army and the
father of Indonesia's intelligence organization; Col. Maludin
Simbolon, who led the North Sumatra Military Command; Lt. Col.
Qahhar Mudzakkar (also spelled Kahar Muzakkar), a former aide to
President Sukarno and commander of South Sulawesi's People's
Security Army; and Capt. Andi Azis, a former KNIL (Koninklijke
Nederlands Indisch Leger) officer.

Kawilarang and Simbolon were caught in one of the bloodiest
civil wars that followed the proclamation of the Revolutionary
Government of the Republic of Indonesia (Pemerintah Revolusioner
Republik Indonesia, PRRI) and the All-Out Struggle (Perjuangan
Semesta, Permesta) rebellion of February 1958.

The PRRI/Permesta rebellion, which enjoyed the support of the
Eisenhower administration in the United States, was provoked by
the central government's failure to respond to demands for more
autonomy for the regions.

The officers involved were disappointed with president
Sukarno's decision to reappoint A.H. Nasution as Army chief of
staff. Nasution, then a colonel, was dismissed from the military
after the Oct. 17, 1952 incident, in which he led a movement to
force Sukarno to disband the parliament.

Kahar Muzakkar raised arms against the government in protest
at the government's refusal to accommodate former guerrilla
fighters from South Sulawesi in the official Army. He joined the
Darul Islam rebellion which was started in 1949 in West Java by
Sekarmadji Maridjan Kartosuwirjo. Kahar's death in 1965 marked
the end of the Darul Islam rebellion. Andi Azis was declared a
rebel in 1950 for refusing to carry out a government order to
disband his former KNIL troops and join the Armed Forces of the
United Republic of Indonesia (Angkatan Perang Republik Indonesia
Serikat, APRIS).

Col. Zulkifli Lubis was accused of masterminding several coup
attempts to topple Sukarno. His fate in the military was sealed
after an attempt was made on Sukarno's life on Nov. 30, 1957.
Sukarno escaped unharmed, but Lubis later confided in a
journalist that had he planned the murder, Sukarno would not have
lived to tell the tale.

Stories of officers discharged for rebellious but all too
often justifiable acts also abound in texts on the Indonesian
military that are not specifically dedicated to discussing the
subject of rebellion. The Post-Revolutionary Transformation of
the Indonesian Army by Ruth T. McVey; Gen. A.H. Nasution's famous
series of Memenuhi Panggilan Tugas; Road to Power: Indonesian
Military Politics by Ulf Sundhaussen; Dynamics of Guided
Democracy by Herbert Feith; Subversion as Foreign Policy: The
Secret Eisenhower and Dulles Debacle in Indonesia by Audrey R.
Kahin and George McT. Kahin, are among the most comprehensive
studies on the Indonesian military and provide readers with a
clear picture of the attitude and conduct of Indonesia's men in
uniform.

These books also reveal how members of the Indonesian Armed
Forces (ABRI) have fallen victim to the power struggles that have
been waged since the country gained independence.

Indonesians remember names such as Col. Sukanda Bratamanggala,
the inspector general for training and education; Major R.
Djaelani, commander of the Army's elite paratroop regiment; and
Lt. Col. Kemal Idris and Maj. Suwarto, who were both infantry
regiment commanders.

All were involved in a 1957 move to disband the cabinet which
they thought to be highly inefficient, to eliminate corruption
and to prevent Sukarno from including the PKI in his government.
Kemal Idris and Suwarto survived the incident; Kemal retired in
1978 as a three-star general and Suwarto ended up as commander of
the Army Staff and Command College in Bandung, where he died as a
one-star general. Bratamanggala and Djaelani were both discharged
from the military.

The bloodiest incident, the September 30, 1965 attempted coup
which was blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) but
which is believed to have been the culmination of a power
struggle within the Army and between the Army and the PKI,
claimed the lives of six Army generals.

After the attempted coup, ABRI suffered from an identity
crisis because of the involvement of many leading officers,
including three-star Air Force Gen. Omar Dhani; Brig. Gen.
Supardjo, who at the time commanded the Pontianak-based Combat
Command II during the Confrontation with Malaysia; Col. A.
Latief, commander of the 1st Infantry Brigade in the Jakarta
Regional Military Command; and Lt. Col. Untung, a battalion
commander in the Cakrabirawa Palace Guard and former commander of
the 454th Battalion of the Diponegoro Division in Central Java.