Shoeb Kagda, Jakarta – The news last week from Washington that the United States would restore full military ties with Indonesia after a 14-year lapse must have been sweet music to the ears of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, himself a retired general.

Already fighting hardline elements within the military, Mr Yudhoyono will find the announcement a major boost as he seeks to reform the TNI (Indonesian armed forces) into a professional fighting force.

Trained in the US, the president has enjoyed close ties with senior American military officers and has looked to the US for financial and technical support, but until now, he has been hampered in his efforts to rebuild the country's military capabilities by the ban imposed by Congress.

Following the announcement, Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono quickly noted that Indonesia would start sending its ageing fleet of F-16 jet fighters to the US for major overhaul and resume military training for middle and high-level officers. He added that he hopes to restore the F-16 squadron fully by 2009.

Not everyone within Indonesia's political elite or the US Congress is celebrating the restoration of ties between the two military establishments. Human rights groups in Indonesia are, in fact, dismayed by the development as they fear that the military will now stall in pursuing further reforms, especially in bringing to justice officers who were responsible for the carnage in East Timor following the 1999 referendum.

Some Congressional leaders are also uneasy about the lack of convictions against Indonesian military officers implicated in the East Timor atrocities as well as the killing of two Americans in Papua in 2002. The US Congress imposed the ban in 1992 following the Santa Cruz massacre in Dili, East Timor that left more than 200 people dead.

The Bush administration, in fact, used a national security waiver to drop the embargo in the face of opposition from some Congressional leaders. Given the sensitivities in restoring ties with the tainted Indonesian military, the US government is, however, likely to adopt a go-slow approach rather than rush headlong into boosting military-to-military ties to the level of the early Suharto years.

On the surface, the restoration of full military ties is seen as a reward for the Yudhoyono government's efforts in combating terrorism and thus contributing to the US-led global war on terror. It is no coincidence that the resumption of full military ties comes soon after Indonesian security forces shot and killed master bomb-maker Azahari Husin, an Al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah operative who was on the most wanted list of several regional countries. But as with any such strategic alliance, there is often more to it than meets the eye.

Washington has, in fact, viewed Indonesia's growing military links with Russia and China with some alarm as the TNI sought alternative sources of military hardware and technical assistance.

Russia has over the past few years developed its avionics capabilities to match the Americans and the country was eagerly looking to add Indonesia to its growing clients list. The Chinese, not wanting to be left out, have been providing firearms and other smaller weaponry to the Indonesian military for some time and there was the possibility of the relationship deepening although most defence experts ruled out any formal military pact between the two countries.

With the restoration of ties, the Bush administration has signalled that it is committed to ensuring that the US remains the pre-eminent military power in the region and that it regards Indonesia as a vital partner and client. More importantly, the lifting of the ban will ensure that TNI officers continue to be trained at US military academies, thus fostering closer bonds between the officers of the two nations.

As President Yudhoyono himself has proven, personal ties forged in the classroom and on training fields can act as a powerful social force in enhancing America's standing in the region.

The officers who attend such training programmes will inevitably emerge as future leaders and decision makers, and the values they imbibe will help protect Indonesia's nascent democracy in the future.