Why is Australia resuming military training with Indonesia?

Why is Australia resuming military training with Indonesia?

Imanuddin Razak
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

A number of "whys" immediately entered the minds of many
Indonesians -- and perhaps Australians as well -- over a report
last week that the Australian government intends to resume annual
joint military training with Indonesia's elite forces, Kopassus.

Australian special forces are set to resume training with
Kopassus more than five years after ties were suspended over
allegations that the latter were behind human rights abuses in
East Timor, the former name of Timor Leste. The Sydney Morning
Herald said Kopassus commander Maj. Gen. Syaiful Rizal had
confirmed that Kopassus troops were scheduled to undergo
counterterrorism training with the Perth-based Special Air
Services (SAS) regiment next April, and that Australian special
forces would then carry out antiguerrilla training in Indonesian
jungles.

It's hard to understand Australia's decision to resume joint
military training. It is worth an explanation, especially from
the side of the Australian government, over why it felt it had to
resume such training with Indonesia while it was the Australian
government itself that suspended the program in the wake of the
1999 East Timor referendum.

Kopassus was linked to militia gangs that went on a rampage
and killed some 1,400 people after Timor Leste voted for
independence from Indonesia in a United Nations-sponsored
referendum in August 1999. Timor Leste gained full independence
in May 2002 after more than two years of UN stewardship.

However, the question is probably not that difficult to
answer. As England's Lord Pamerston said one and a half centuries
ago: "We have no eternal allies and we have no perpetual enemies.
Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and these interests it
is our duty to follow."

A spokesman for the Australian Defense Department revealed
that the planned resumption of joint military training was
triggered by the Oct. 1, 2005 Bali bombing, which highlighted the
importance of continuing to work with Indonesia to combat
terrorism.

After five years of "isolating" Kopassus from participating in
any international military cooperation, the Australian government
likely could not find a fitting partner to combat rampant terror
attacks, especially in Indonesia and the Asia-Pacific region in
general. It did try to establish cooperation with the Indonesian
Police (Polri) after the first Bali blast in October 2002, which
killed 202 people including 88 Australians, but the fact that the
police have yet to capture the masterminds behind the first and
the latest Bali blasts probably forced the Australian government
to turn again to Kopassus.

Excluding Indonesia from its global campaign against terrorism
was not beneficial to Australia or for the security of the
Southeast Asian region. Indonesia has thus looked elsewhere for
partners.

For the past few years, Indonesia has been conducting joint
military training with Germany. And recently, a decision was
taken by the Indonesian government to procure Russian Sukhoi jet
fighters after a prolonged military embargo imposed by the United
States on Indonesia over alleged human rights abuses by
Indonesia's military.

The latest move by Australia also cannot be separated from the
global diplomacy of the United States in combating terrorism,
especially after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on its
landmarks.

It was U.S. President George W. Bush who called Australia
America's "sheriff" -- the U.S.'s key ally in combating terrorism
in the Southeast Asia region. In an October 2003 interview with
local Australian newspapers, Bush heaped praise on Australia and
its conservative Prime Minister John Howard for supporting the
war on terror.

The policy to resume joint military training has been viewed
as uncontroversial, and will not draw any criticism or opposition
from countries in the Southeast Asian region.

"No one in the region really will object to this because
they're all doing it themselves," said Neil James, executive
director of the independent think-tank Australian Defense
Association, in a statement last year. He cited the extensive
military training programs between the U.S. and Thailand and
Malaysia and Singapore, and the U.S.'s limited training programs
with Indonesia.

Last but not least, Australia also has an interest in a stable
Indonesia. An unstable Indonesia is a threat to Australia; a mass
influx of Indonesians escaping instability to Australia threatens
Australia's own stability and security.