U.S. urged to restore military cooperation with RI

Yenni Djahidin, The Jakarta Post, Washington D.C. A soon-to-be published study recommends that the United States remove its restrictions on the Indonesian military (TNI). The study, to be released in March, says that both countries would benefit from a restoration in military to military cooperation.

"The United States needs a strong security partner in Southeast Asia," says Eduardo Lachica, one of the four authors of the report and a former correspondent of The Asian Wall Street Journal.

The plan to issue the study follows reports that aides to the new U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice are recommending that she report to Congress that Indonesia is cooperating with U.S. authorities in the investigation of the killings of two American teachers in Papua, in a bid to have restrictions on the TNI eased.

Lachica said that Indonesia is the best choice for the Americans because of its strategic location and also because it is the largest Muslim country in the world.

"Indonesia could be a major argument for democracy in the Muslim world," Lachica said. He also said that the U.S. was not crusading against Islam, but wants to help "moderate Muslims".

He adds that the Indonesian armed forces could not be blamed entirely for its poor human rights reputation. He said the country's civilian government should take some of the blame because it has under-funded the TNI.

"We want the TNI to stop making money by itself. We want it to be fully funded (by the Indonesian government)," he said. Lachica said the TNI needs a budget of about US$ 3 billion a year, but presently receives only around $1 billion a year. He added that Indonesian officials have said it will take at least five years for the government to provide sufficient funds to cover the military budget.

Lachica said the cost of security is critical because without security, the government can't function very well.

"Security is a public good and public goods always come with a cost," he added.

Lachica also said that by punishing the TNI, the U.S. Congress was recognizing the sovereignty of the TNI (as an entity separate from the Indonesian state).

"(The U.S.) should deal with the Indonesian government because we believe in the supremacy of the civilian government of Indonesia," he said.

The study recommends that the U.S. restore the International Military Education and Training (IMET) program with Indonesia. IMET allowed Indonesian officers to attend military courses in the United States.

The program was stopped following the 1991 killings of protesters in Dili, East Timor. Military aid was further severed in 1999 following the destruction and killings in East Timor, blamed on the TNI, before and after a plebiscite that led to the territory's independence.

He said that IMET had become a symbol of the TNI's pariah status and now the military wants to get its status back.

Lachica claims that the more TNI officers are exposed to American military training and culture, the more they would accept the idea of civilian supremacy of the armed forces.

"The one thing that American officials didn't say is that they want to get to know TNI members personally," Lachica said. "It's for selfish, practical reasons," he said. Citing the recent tsunami disaster relief effort in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, he said the U.S. military blended in very well with the Thai military because they conduct regular exercises.

"In Aceh, there was confusion for the first few days between the Indonesian and the U.S. military personnel because they don't know each other and never hold exercises together," Lachica said.

Another reason for restoring IMET, he said, is that other countries, such as China and Japan, want to forge ties with the TNI.

The study, entitled Enhancing the U.S.-Indonesian security relationship: An opportunity not to be missed, also recommends that the U.S. help Indonesia with counter terrorism efforts, maritime security and peacekeeping missions.

Sponsoring the study is the United States-Indonesia Society (USINDO), a non-government organization that promotes better understanding between the US and Indonesia. Its members include former foreign service officers from both countries and big corporations such as Freeport McMoran, Exxon-Mobil, and Coca Cola. Co-authors of the study are John B. Haseman, Bronson Percival and William M. Wise.