Jerry Norton, Jakarta – The United States wants to return to full military cooperation with Indonesia but it must first match words with action in accounting for the violence in East Timor, US Admiral Dennis Blair said on Tuesday.
Washington slashed military ties after pro-Jakarta militia, many supported by the Indonesian army, went on a killing spree in East Timor when the territory voted for independence in 1999. The United States lifted an embargo on sales of non-lethal military items after initial support from Indonesia in the war on terrorism, but other restrictions remain.
"A higher level of cooperation would be in the interests of both our countries," especially given the anti-terrorism campaign, but depended on military reform linked to the East Timor issue, said Blair, commander of US forces in the Pacific.
He also cautioned against counter-insurgency tactics so harsh they generate more rebels than the number of militants they destroy. "Heavy-handed military tactics against insurgencies not only create international censure, but also are counterproductive – they build local resentment ... increase support for insurgency and terrorism, and undermine public trust," Blair said in a speech to Indonesian military and police officers and civil servants.
Conflicts east and west
Jakarta faces conflicts at both ends of its sprawling archipelago – armed separatists in the resource-rich province of Papua in the east and Free Aceh (GAM) rebels on the northern tip of Sumatra island near the strategic Malacca Strait. "You don't want to create more members of GAM than you remove," Blair said in answer to a question.
He was in Indonesia on a two-day visit that included meetings with President Megawati Sukarnoputri, ministers and officers in which the US-led war on terrorism was a major topic.
Blair – whose own command takes in operations across more than 100 million square miles and includes over 300,000 military personnel – said he saw a growing awareness in Indonesia "that force alone is insufficient to quell insurgency without political accommodation, respect for human rights and local economic development."
However, that view is not universally shared. Others say influential Indonesian elements still support harsh military measures to counter the Papua and Aceh rebellions.
The United Nations estimates more than 1,000 people were killed in the wake of East Timor's vote for independence but none of the military officers blamed for inciting the killings have been brought to trial.
Blair said the United States was "ready to resume the full range of bilateral cooperation, when the military reforms which the [Indonesian armed forces are] undertaking ... reach maturity". Establishing accountability in East Timor through actions like court martials would be the key measure of that, he said.
'Convinced of sincerity'
In his talks with Indonesian officials and military commanders Blair said he was "convinced of their sincerity and their commitment to reform but I also have not seen that sincerity translated into actions which give a full explanation and then accountability" for what happened in East Timor.
While US laws linked to progress on that issue prohibited full military cooperation with Indonesia, Blair told a news conference after the speech that didn't apply to the war against terrorism, and praised Indonesia's actions on that front.
Indonesia has been critical of the US bombing in Afghanistan but has also condemned the September 11 attacks against the World Trade Center and Pentagon and cooperated with the United States in the sharing of intelligence, moves to stop money laundering, and other areas.
Blair refused to be drawn on specifics of whether he thought terrorist groups like Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda were operating in Indonesia but said clearly Indonesia has to be concerned about the possibility given its size and past links of some Indonesian groups to Afghanistan.
Blair also said many nations had offered to participate in a Malacca Strait patrol, in cooperation with patrols of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, to ensure terrorists could not attack shipping there.
"In fact we are allocating some navy assets to protect certain shipping that's important to us as it goes through these waters," he told reporters. Blair's Indonesian visit was part of a regional swing that has already taken him to Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Japan. He was to leave on Tuesday for India.