White paper on defense strategy ready in March

White paper on defense strategy ready in March

The Ministry of Defense is in the final stages of preparing a
white paper on defense strategy that gives a greater role to the
Army to handle security disturbances and internal threats over
the next decade, says a minister.

Defense minister Matori Abdul Djalil disclosed during a
hearing with the House of Representatives' defense, foreign
affairs and security commission that after having been discussed
with top security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the
Supreme Advisory Council (DPA), the white paper would be
published by the end of March.

The minister declined to discuss the white paper's substance
in detail but said it consists of six main parts -- the
background to the white paper, national reform and state defense,
the defense budget, the international strategic situation,
threats, and strategic defense and strategic policy.

"The white paper will be published in the form of a book, and
it contains strategic policies on state defense vis-a-vis
possible threats to domestic security and to the country's
sovereignty," he said, adding that the white paper was designed
to prepare security authorities to deal with any possible
threats.

Maj. Gen. Sudradjat, director general for defense strategy at
the Defense Ministry, implied that the white paper would give a
greater role to the Army over the next ten years because possible
threats to security would come from inside the country during
this period.

"We have identified three kinds of threat in the form of
military attacks, non-traditional threats and security
disturbances. The latter will dominate over the next ten years
because of increasing separatist activities in Aceh and Papua,"
he said, adding that the possibility of a military attack by a
foreign enemy was very small.

The increasing separatist activities would need a strong Army,
he said. --JP