U.S. govt aims to revive military ties with RI: Envoy

U.S. govt aims to revive military ties with RI: Envoy

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The U.S. government is trying to persuade Congress to fully
lift the military embargo imposed on Indonesia as cooperation
between the armed forces of the two countries in the wake of last
year's tsunami provides yet further proof of stronger military
ties.

"You can be sure that the executive branch is working to open
the way for the normalization of military to military
relationships," U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia B. Lynn Pascoe said
on Tuesday in a speech at the start of a two-day security dialog
between senior U.S. and Indonesian defense officials here.

Pascoe said the U.S. administration had learned that military
forces from both countries worked side by side to distribute
emergency relief and rescue survivors in Aceh, the hardest hit by
the Dec. 26 tsunami.

"This experience helped us set the stage to move to a higher
level of military to military cooperation," he said.

The U.S. Congress suspended military cooperation with
Indonesia in 1999, after accusations that soldiers deployed in
the country's former province of East Timor committed rights
abuses before, during and after the 1999 vote of independence.

The current administration wants the ban lifted, arguing
Washington should support Indonesia, the world's most populous
Muslim nation and a key battleground in the war on terror.

The 2002 shooting of two American teachers in Papua province
has also complicated ties between the two countries, with rights
groups alleging rouge Indonesian soldiers were behind the
shootings.

Indonesia has pursued efforts to resume full military ties,
but the U.S. Congress and human rights groups have said that full
normalization should not be allowed due to Indonesia's failure to
punish anyone in connection with the killings in East Timor and
rising concerns about human rights abuses across the country.

The U.S. government has revived several joint military
training exercises, and endorsed limited sales of military
equipment to Indonesia.

Meanwhile, Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono expressed
confidence that the embargo would eventually be lifted "because
of the post-tsunami cooperation and good reputation of President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Washington".

The minister recalled Susilo's recent visit to the U.S., which
was aimed at reviving full military ties between the two nations.

"Congress members were impressed with SBY (Susilo) as they
learned that he is serious about reforming the military and
placing it under civilian control," he said.

The Tuesday forum was the third round of talks between
Indonesia and the United States. The first dialog was held in
Indonesia in 2002, the second was held in 2004 in Washington.

Brig. Gen. John Allen led the U.S. delegation, while the
delegation from Indonesia is led by Maj. Gen. Dadi Susanto, who
is also director general on defense strategy at the Ministry of
Defense.