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)