Elizabeth Becker and Philip Shenon, Washington – The United States is resisting direct threats of economic or military sanctions against Indonesia over the chaos in East Timor in hopes of preserving its relationship with that vast archipelago nation, even as the Clinton administration protests the chaos that has left hundreds of Timorese dead, senior officials said.
The administration, these officials said, has made the calculation that the United States must put its relationship with Indonesia, a mineral-rich nation of more than 200 million people, ahead of its concern over the political fate of East Timor, a tiny, impoverished territory of 800,000 people that is seeking independence.
The Defense Department is taking the lead in dealing with the crisis. Hoping to make use of longstanding ties between the Pentagon and the Indonesian military – a relationship that dates back to the early days of the Cold War, when Indonesia was seen as a bulwark against communism – the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Henry Shelton, has telephoned Indonesia's military commander, Gen. Wiranto, several times this week to discuss East Timor.
Officials say the two military leaders have discussed details of Wiranto's plan to remove troops from East Timor who have allied themselves with anti-independence militias and replace them with soldiers clearly loyal to the central government in Jakarta.
The Indonesian military leader is respected by Pentagon officials for his military professionalism and is seen as the key figure in the crisis, overshadowing President B.J. Habibie, who appears to have little control over the situation and is distrusted by many in the military.
"It is not unreasonable to give him at least 24 hours to get folks there, and then you've got to give him a little time to bring them under control," said a senior administration official. "Wiranto knows that everybody expects to see real traction on this very fast – and very fast doesn't mean weeks."
While senior administration officials did not rule out the use of sanctions, they acknowledged that the United States had no firm plans to punish the Jakarta government if the violence continued. The administration, they said, is willing to support an Australian-led UN peacekeeping force in East Timor, but only if it is invited by the Indonesian government.
"Because we bombed in Kosovo doesn't mean we should bomb Dili," said Samuel Berger, Clinton's national security adviser, referring to the Timorese capital.
"Indonesia is the fourth-largest country in the world," he said. "It is undergoing a fragile but tremendously important political and economic transformation, which the United States strongly supports. The resolution of this crisis matters not just for East Timor but for Indonesia as a whole."
He suggested that US threats of a cutoff of economic or military aid to Indonesia were not necessary. "It's not a question of making threats," he said. "It's a question of stating what is simply a practical fact of life, which is that it would be very hard for the international community to continue to be of economic assistance if there is a chaotic situation in Timor."
The United States has little direct leverage over the Indonesian military. As a result of human rights abuses attributed to the military, Congress has sharply limited military aid and training to Indonesia, and the total military aid package this year totaled only $476,000. "It's not as if we have a military assistance program that could be cut off," said State Department spokesman James Rubin.
The United States has a more potent means of punishing Indonesia through what amounts to its veto power in the International Monetary Fund, which has committed tens of billions of dollars in emergency financial support to Indonesia as a result of the Asian economic crisis.
But Washington has been reluctant to threaten a cutoff of the aid for fear that the result would be a new economic collapse in Indonesia, further undermining its transition to democracy after three decades of authoritarian rule under President Suharto, who was forced from office last year. It could also harm US corporations that have large investments in Indonesia.
The Clinton administration has focused its attention on persuading Wiranto that he must step in personally to insure that his troops stop the violence.
US officials said they are convinced that Wiranto is not directing the violence in East Timor, but they said he has made few efforts to reign in junior military commanders who may be encouraging the violence as a means of blocking independence for the territory.
The United States is trying to convince Wiranto that with order restored, a UN peacekeeping force could be deployed to East Timor and relieve him of the responsibility of controlling the militias until there is a final decision on East Timor's political future.
In a referendum last week that ignited the violence, an overwhelming majority of Timorese voted for independence from Indonesia, which invaded and annexed the former Portuguese colony in 1975.
A senior Pentagon official said Wednesday that the commander of US military forces in the Pacific, Adm. Dennis Blair, arrived in Jakarta on Wednesday to carry the message to Wiranto "that he has the responsibility to bring this under control and he had better belly up to that responsibility."
Administration officials are also concerned that the crisis in East Timor could disrupt the difficult relationship between the Indonesian military and its civilian leaders, and could bring down Habibie, who has been praised by the United States for pushing ahead with democratic reforms.
Administration officials said that if the United Nations sponsors an armed peacekeeping mission in East Timor, it will almost certainly receive military support from the United States, although not ground troops.
"The United States is not planning an insertion of any peacekeeping troops," said Defense Secretary William Cohen. He called upon the Indonesian government to act "swiftly and effectively" to stop the militias. "The government of Indonesia is responsible for bringing order and peace to East Timor," he said. At a White House news conference, Berger said that any peacekeeping force would be "overwhelmingly Asian in character."
"We have to recognize that Indonesia is in Asia, and that the Indonesians will respond much better to a solution here that is dominated by the Asians and not dominated by the United States." he said.
The government of Australia has volunteered to lead an international peacekeeping force and provide 2,000 troops, but has said that it will not go in alone.
US officials say they have been in close contact with the Australian government and that if the United States participated in the mission, it would be likely provide communications, logistics and intelligence support.
"We will look at what is the appropriate level of assistance we can give, whether it be logistical or technical support or other," said White House press secretary Joe Lockhart. "But I can tell you that there's been no decision made on that."