Yet another maneuver

Never before has this country been rocked by such violent riots and intergroup and interreligious conflicts. The show seems to go on against a backdrop of Armed Forces' weakening operational capability and dramatic plunge in popularity both here and abroad.

The military's response to unrest has always been high profile, often followed by low operational capability. A good example of this is Ambon, the capital of Maluku, and its surrounding areas, where interreligious hysteria has been continuing unabated for weeks.

Despite the military's omnipresence there, people are still being terrified by daily bomb explosions. Those who cannot stand the worsening situation are leaving the island for safer destinations. To the panic stricken people and the rest of the nation, the military, which reacted rather tardy to this latest violence, not only failed to prevent outbreaks of new chaos, but has also illustrated that it is unable to stop more people falling victim. Resident of Ambon say soldiers have been panic stricken in facing the fracas.

The geographical condition of the province, which consists of many small islands -- and the fact that the number of troops now operating there is less than enough -- has prompted the military to form a special, highly trained force for rapid deployment to quell riots. The force will also be deployed to other areas experiencing riots.

The force consists of soldiers from the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad), the Army's Special Force (Kopassus), the marines, the Air Force special troops (Paskhas) and the National Police Mobile Brigade.

The formation appears to be confirmation that the establishment of the controversial People's Security (Kamra) was pointless. But in this age of confusion, the public is expected to understand these things.

The combination of the new force shows a modern organization, perhaps. But many Indonesians have not forgotten how the Kopassus crack force -- which is part of the new team -- fiercely and victoriously played a leading role in the campaign to liberate West Irian (now Irian Jaya) from colonial Dutch hands in 1962, and almost individually wiped out communist forces in 1965.

The following years saw Kopassus as the most popular military unit in Indonesia. This was made possible by the historic reality that the Sukarno regime, unlike Gen. Soeharto, did not abuse the military for personal political ends.

Such abuse eroded the military's professionalism and averted its attention to its social and political roles. Its failures reached a peak when the country became mired in instability.

The military has solved none of the recent tragedies, from the shooting of Trisakti students in May 1998 to the latest atrocities in Aceh.

We feel great pity for the military whenever it blames elusive creatures, or provocateurs as it calls them, for all the social unrest, rather than learning a lesson from such tragedies.

If this way of thinking continues, we are afraid rioting may erupt in more provinces, including Jakarta. This would not only foil the June general election, but would also scare the rest of the world.

A return to professionalism seems the only choice for the military. And the only way to secure the country's future. It was encouraging to hear East Java Military Commander Maj. Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu's statement in an interview with Forum magazine this week in which he said the military had to strive to be a professional armed force.

We sincerely hope that his opinion will not be a cry in the wilderness.