Violence on the border

I can only endorse what David Jardine had to say (East Timor issue, The Jakarta Post, Aug. 1). Militia the world over must look at the skills of their Indonesian "counterparts" with envy! Indonesia at a time when international faith and confidence is so badly needed, is again facing critical scrutiny; but like before is being less than honest with the world and its own citizens, lapsing into the old and politically immature tactic of blaming others or simply lying.

There have been several so-far unreported injuries from cross- border incursions. A few weeks ago, a friend of mine was wounded as he trained younger peacekeepers at a distance of over two kilometers from the border. He was shot with a 50 millimeter high caliber long-range sniper rifle. My friend is an expert in ballistics, so he literally knew what hit him. Another peacekeeper was seriously wounded later that week. The young NZ soldier was wounded trying to evade an engagement, and by all accounts the killers then came across the border to execute and mutilate him.

But does this faintly ring other bells: Try Maluku where the Post has reported people being killed by shots to the head. Well I suppose that villagers in Maluku could keep sniper rifles in their rice jars. Or that the villagers, or our friends in the erroneously called Jihad are fast learners, and able to learn in a day and a half of range practice, the highly skilled tactics usually reserved for special forces.

M. KEMP

Ubud, Bali