U.S. military wants revival of training program for R.I.
U.S. military wants revival of training program for R.I.
JAKARTA (JP): The second highest ranking officer of the United
States military asserted yesterday his desire to resume a
training program for Indonesian officers which was scratched by
Congress in 1992 after alleging that Jakarta had violated human
rights in East Timor.
Admiral William Owens, the Vice-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff, expressed his desire to revive the International
Military and Education Training (IMET) fund to train Indonesian
officers in the U.S.
The IMET program to Indonesia was cut by Congress following
the 1991 Dili incident in East Timor when over 50 people were
killed in clashes between demonstrators and security forces.
"From the military perspective, I am keen to proceed to find
ways that we can re-establish IMET training, and to make it a
piece of our growing military to military cooperation," Owens
said.
Owens arrived on Wednesday to begin a five-day stay to discuss
military issues of both mutual and regional concern.
Brig. Gen. Muddin Ma'ruf, a staff member of the Indonesian
Armed Forces Commander present at the meeting said Owens could
not guarantee the resumption of the program but pledged his
support.
Owens later told journalists that he would "argue strongly for
that funding in the 1996 budget."
The resumption of the program must be stipulated in the 1996
U.S. budget, which depends on Congressional consent. The 1996
budget begins on Oct. 1, 1995.
"Its not so much the amount of money, it's the spirit under
which the IMET training is done," Owens said.
Military ties between Jakarta and Washington have passed an
arduous period in the past four-years with Congress and the
Senate also blocking the sale of F-15 fighters from Jordan to
Indonesia and last year's restriction to sell small arms here.
In response, Jakarta has turned to other countries, and most
notably the recent blossoming of military cooperation with
Australia.
When asked on the possibility of selling U.S. military
equipment to Indonesia, Owens said he was not here to sell
American military equipment.
"That's the Indonesian military's decision," he said.
However, if such an interest was expressed, then Owens
asserted the need for both sides to commit to become good
partners.
On the U.S. military presence in the region, Owens emphasized
that Washington would maintain 100,000 troops in the Asia-Pacific
as a commitment to peace and stability. "We think that being here
with our friends and allies in the Pacific, we can be an element
of a stable environment."
"We recognize that our trade in America with this part of the
world is growing and therefore, it is of great importance to us
to realize stability in this region as a U.S. national interest
as well as an interest to our allies in the region," he said.
He added that such a presence no longer needed the
establishment of a large military base like Subic Bay in the
Philippines, which was closed in 1992.
He said that modern military technology were easier to
maintain.
"We have been able to find ways logistically, and from a
maintenance perspective, to manage without a base like Subic
Bay," Owens remarked.
Apart from discussing military matters, Vice President Try
Sutrisno and Owens also discussed the emergence of Islamic
fundamentalism in various parts of the world, Ma'ruf said.
"The vice president guaranteed that fundamentalism would not
occur in Indonesia," Ma'ruf said.(mds)