US funding for Indonesian military expected to resume
Asia Pacific Report / Radio Australia
January 29, 2003
-transcript-
The United States is expected to bypass Congressional restrictions on
funding
the Indonesian military or TNI as early as this week. During the East
Timor
crisis, Congress passed the Leahy provisions which stopped funding to
the TNI
until it demonstrated clear improvements in human rights and accountability.
But critics of the TNI say that a section of the multi-facted Budget bills
about to pass the House, will supercede that Leahy bill.
Presenter/Interviewer: Di Martin
Speakers: Ed McWilliams, former political counsel at the US Embassy in
Jakarta
MARTIN: When Indonesian military-backed militia razed East Timor in September
1999, Congress cut all ties with the TNI. Later that year the Leahy
provisions were passed in Congress putting strict conditions on any resumption
of US
military funding to Indonesia.
But America's focus on global terrorism, and Indonesia's status as the
world's most populous Muslim nation, is a combination resulting in a profound
shift
in that previously hardline US funding position.
It started to change mid last year with the Defence Department committing
four million dollars worth of counter-terrorism training to the TNI. Now,
as part
of the huge budget set of bills about to get the nod, Congress is expected
to
approve inclusion of the TNI in the US International Military Education
and
Training program or IMET.
Indonesia's involvement in the Hawaii-based program is only worth about
half
a million dollars, but those who are trying to prevent the sidelining
of the
Leahy provisions see the IMET invitation as a dangerous development in
direct
military assistance.
Ed McWilliams is a former political counsellor with the US Embassy in Jakarta.
MCWILLIAMS: This is important because although it's only 400,000 dollars,
it
is symbolically a very important opportunity for the TNI to begin to receive
funds, which had been denied the TNI because of its abuses of human rights
and other problems domestically.
MARTIN: And this move doesn't contradict the Leahy amendments that were
passed a couple of years ago?
MCWILLIAMS: This development supercedes the Leahy provisions that had
been
essentially constraining all military assistance provided at least through
the State Department channels of funding for the TNI. We do still have
the Leahy
provisions impacting to some extent our assistance to the TNI insofar
as
restrictions continue on foreign military assistance sales and issuance
of
licenses for purchases of US made weaponry by the TNI.
MARTIN: Ed McWilliams says the change in US Congressional attitudes has
less
to do with Republican dominance in both the House and the Senate, than
with
America's obsession with dealing with global terrorism in the post September
11 environment.
MCWILLIAMS: I think it's not so much the fact that the Republicans now
control the Senate; of course they had control of the House of Representatives
for
some time. What has really changed is that the administration's arguments
that it
needs to have the cooperation of foreign militaries to fight terrorism
in its
rubric has had great sway on the Hill. There is no one prepared now or
very
few people prepared on the Hill to say no to the administration on the
terrorism
issue. So that when it comes to the Congress and says we need to make
the TNI
a partner in our fight against terrorism in Indonesia for example, very
few
people are prepared to stand up against that. What is interesting we still
have some Republicans and of course quite a few Democrats who are prepared
to
contest that, but nowhere near the numbers that we've seen in the past.
MARTIN: Do you think that faith in the TNI, in fighting terrorism is
credible
considering your experience in Jakarta?
MCWILLIAMS: No, no certainly not, I mean the point we have tried to make
to
friends in the Congress is that the TNI itself has been a partner in
terrorism. I mean it sponsors terrorist organisations, such as Laskar
Jihad, cooperates
with them, so that we are making ourselves a partner of an institution
which
is itself a terrorist organisation, an organisation which conspires with
terrorists.
MARTIN: And within that context explain the Feingold Bill, which was
lost
last week in the Senate?
MCWILLIAMS: This was in the form of amendment offered by Senator Feingold,
which very specifically would have limited IMET assistance, IMET opportunity
for the TNI to what we call expanded IMET, which is a very limited program.
MARTIN: Which only deals with human rights rather than, say, gun trading
or
whatever?
MCWILLIAMS: Exactly, non-lethal aspects of military training. This amendment
to essentially give TNI only the smallest weakest element of IMET was
defeated
in a largely party line vote, 61-36. We did find a number of Republicans
crossing the aisle as we say to support the Finegold amendment, but in
the final
analysis nowhere near enough.
MARTIN: So in other words your argument that TNI has been a sponsor of
terrorism failed in the Congress?
MCWILLIAMS: That was but one of the arguments that were employed. We
also
argued that in as much as we have now apparently seen the TNI culpable
for
the murder of two American citizens and the wounding of eight American
citizens
in the Timika incident, an attack on some schoolteachers back in August.
MARTIN: This was in West Papua?
MCWILLIAMS: In West Papua, it was our assumption that this would carry
quite
a bit of weight with the American Congressman and Senators, and it did
indeed
but not sufficient to overcome the administration argument that no, they
needed
TNI as a partner in the war on terrorism.