News that Indonesian soldiers might have been involved in an August ambush in Papua that killed two Americans and an Indonesian and wounded 11 isn't surprising. The history of the chaotic province has been marked by separatist revolts and reprisals; civilian deaths at the hands of the army have occurred before.
Yet Jakarta's acknowledgment that soldiers may have been involved in the August abuses has brought new demands from human rights advocates that foreign governments shun the Indonesian military. Even if the worst-case scenario is true and military personnel opened fire on a group of unarmed school teachers, what the international response should be is not easily reduced to a simplistic formula. Certainly it's best to wait and see if Indonesian authorities mete out justice before meddling in a nation's internal affairs, even when foreigners were among the victims.
The initial Indonesian response was a claim that anti-government insurgents were responsible for the attack, which is certainly a plausible theory in the absence of more solid evidence. But recent government actions show that Jakarta is seriously trying to get to the bottom of the crimes. For starters, local officials are reported to be cooperating openly with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, a refreshing improvement from a government that had been dragging its feet in helping America with the war on terror.
More to the point, it was an Indonesian police investigator named I Made Mangku Pastika who first went public with the news that members of the elite Kopassus army unit might have had a role. An investigation by Mr. Pastika last year led to the arrest of several other Kopassus members for assassinating a Papuan rebel leader. Allowing a serious prober such as Mr. Pastika to enter the case suggests that there is no conspiracy to cover up official complicity.
The bloody hand of international terror indirectly has brought increased attention to the two-month-old Papua atrocity. President Megawati Sukarnoputri has also designated Mr. Pastika to head the investigation into last month's Bali bombings – a high-profile appointment that was likely to put the media spotlight on his career and recent cases. After Bali, the international pressure on Ms. Megawati to quickly prosecute and punish any Indonesians responsible for the deaths of foreigners in the archipelago adds impetus to efforts to find the culprits in the Papua killings.
But cutting off US aid to or communication with the Indonesian military is hardly an intelligent answer to the problem of dark deeds by rogue military units. What is needed now is not a weaker military but one that is better trained, better disciplined and obedient to civil authorities. That can best be furthered by contact with such a force in being, specifically the US military.
Beset by ethnic violence and independence movements, the country relies on the steady hand of government for stability. As the nation's democratic institutions mature, they strive to bring the military under their own control. But Indonesia will continue to need a strong army to help keep the peace among the diverse peoples spread across more than 17,000 islands. In the past successful programs have brought officers and cadets to US
military academies for training. Increased contact with the world's most powerful fighting force would inevitably convince Indonesian soldiers that unquestioning deference to civilian rule and respect for human rights in no way diminishes the importance of a nation's military.
Indonesia's armed forces have been consistently ceding more power to the civilian government since Suharto stepped down in 1998. Earlier this year, President Megawati announced another series of reforms, including an accelerated schedule for removing the seats reserved for military officers in the national parliament. This is progress.
It's also important to note that excesses by some notoriously tough and independent units in far-flung outposts of a country that stretches for 3,000 miles does not necessarily mean that the central command in the capital condones random violence. The difficult job of controlling renegade units was made clear when an army airborne battalion went so far as to attack two police stations during a rampage in North Sumatra on September 29.
The most important reason not to isolate the Indonesian military is that it would set back the world war against terror. After the attacks on New York and Washington on September 11, 2001, and especially following the October Bali bombings, international leaders have asked Ms. Megawati to take bold steps to crack down on radical Islamic groups operating in Indonesia. There is no way jihadist organizations can be controlled in the world's most populous Muslim nation without the assistance of strong armed forces.