Indonesia welcomed a U.S. decision to lift a six-year arms
embargo to help the mostly Muslim nation fight terrorism (yah
rite!!!), but human rights groups said Wednesday it betrayed
victims of military brutality.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a U.S.-educated former general,
said the move represented "a new chapter" in relations between the
two countries, and would enable Indonesia to modernize its aging
military inventory.
The Bush administration had long wanted to lift the arms embargo,
imposed in 1999 after troops ravaged East Timor during the
territory's break from Jakarta, but was stymied by U.S. lawmakers
demanding the military undertake meaningful reform.
Citing national security concerns, the State Department used
recently granted powers to waive the restrictions.
"Indonesia plays a unique strategic role in Southeast Asia ... and
is a voice of moderation in the Islamic world," spokesman Sean
McCormack said in a statement Tuesday explaining the
decision.
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation and is seen by
Washington as a key ally in the war on terror. Al-Qaida-linked
militants have launched a series of deadly bombings on Western
targets since 2002, including suicide attacks last month on three
crowded restaurants on Bali island that killed 20 people.
But analysts say the decision to lift the embargo may also reflect
Washington's desire to boost its influence in Southeast Asia to
counterbalance China's growing economic and strategic clout.
"This is a profoundly disappointing and sad day for human rights
protections everywhere," said John Miller from the East Timor and
Indonesia Action Network. "With the stroke of a pen ... President
Bush betrayed the untold tens of thousands of victims of the
Indonesian military's brutality." (Wat is H.R. when they can earn
millions of $$$)
Parts of the embargo had already been lifted - chiefly a small
officer-training program - but until Tuesday lethal weapons (yah
rite?) could still not be sold to Indonesia.
McCormack said the administration planned to help modernize the
Indonesian military and support U.S. and Indonesian security
objectives, including counterterrorism, but that Washington
"remained committed to pressing for accountability for past human
rights abuses."
Moves to restore ties (Business)received a boost after the December
tsunami, which killed 130,000 people on Indonesia's Sumatra Island.
The U.S. and Indonesian militaries worked together to deliver aid
to victims.
"We welcome this opportunity to work with the United States again,"
Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono told The Associated Press on an
official visit to India.
Yudhoyono, who was elected a year ago in the country's first ever
direct elections for head of state, has visited Washington twice to
lobby for a full lifting of the ban.
Critics say that the Indonesian police - not the military - should
be responsible for fighting terror, and that the embargo was a
valuable tool in leveraging Indonesia.
The military has long been accused of human rights violations in
the course of putting down separatist insurgencies in far-flung
regions of the sprawling archipelago.
While Jakarta did hold trials for some of those accused in the East
Timor violence, 16 of the 18 government and military officials
involved were acquitted. That sparked outrage among Western
governments and rights groups who labeled the rights court a
failure.
The U.S. and Indonesian militaries had close ties during the
three-decade rule of former dictator Suharto, whose regime
collapsed in 1998 amid riots and an economic meltdown, ushering in
democracy.
Indonesia's invasion of East Timor in 1975 and the subsequent
24-year occupation is blamed for the deaths of 200,000 people - a
third of the population. Anti-insurgent activities in the eastern
province of Papua since 1969 are believed to have caused the deaths
of more than 100,000 people.
So Who is the real bad guys?