Who foots the bill for peacekeepers?

Who foots the bill for peacekeepers?

From Republika

On Sept. 13, 1999, President B.J. Habibie invited a United
Nations peacekeeping force to come to Indonesia's province of
East Timor. The Sept. 14 editorial in Republika, titled National
interest, said "world leaders favorably welcome the decision of
the Indonesian government to invite the United Nations
peacekeeping force to come to East Timor..."

If only Mr. President had restrained himself and had not
offered the option of autonomy to the East Timorese prior to the
upcoming 1999 General Session of the People's Consultative
Assembly. If only the mechanism of consultation between the
legislature, the House of Representatives, and the executive had
run smoothly then we would not have lost our 27th province so
quickly.

Well, anyway, you have made your bed, now you must lie in it.
Man proposes, God disposes. As someone not directly involved in
the policy on East Timor, I was struck by the use of the words
"to invite" in the editorial.

When I was still an elementary school student, my teacher once
told us that whoever extended an invitation would be responsible
for the payment. I do not know whether Mr. Ali Alatas, who has
been busy lobbying top UN officials about RI's suggestion on the
composition of the peacekeeping force, is well aware of the
standard practice involving extending invitations.

None of the five newspapers I read on Sept. 14 touched, let
alone analyzed, the operational costs of the troops to be
deployed in East Timor under the flag of a UN peacekeeping force.
Our 23-year experience shows that over this period we have
involved ourselves in "debates" in UN forums but we have never
been able to bring world opinion to some understanding about the
East Timor question. In the same way, I believe we can never
succeed in rejecting Australia from entering East Timor under the
flag of the peacekeeping force.

Therefore, am I wrong to assume that the debts sustained by
the Indonesian people, now already in the billions of U.S.
dollars, will become even greater because of the operational
costs of the peacekeeping force during its assignment in East
Timor. I am sure that, in a short time to come, Mr. Jabrik, the
International Monetary Fund supervisor for Asia, will return to
Jakarta to shake hands with Mr. President and say: "Good. Good!
You're Mr. Brilliant for debit and credit. Your country is rich
resources. Never mind..."

With a smile to show his "fangs", Mr. Jabrik will give its
guarantee that although Indonesia is short of cash, the IMF will
extend additional loans, most of which will be allocated to cover
the operational costs of the UN peacekeeping force. So the debts
that my progeny in the next two generations will have to sustain
will be beyond 24 digits. Good gracious!

MUCHWARDI MUCHTAR

Bekasi, West Java