U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld arrived in Jakarta on Tuesday for bilateral talks with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, his counterpart Juwono Sudarsono and other top officials, before flying to Brussels on Wednesday to attend a NATO meeting.
During his talks with Yudhoyono, Rumsfeld repeated some of the same praise that has been heaped on Indonesia by his boss President George W. Bush and members of Bush's hawkish inner circle, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Rumsfeld's former deputy Paul Wolfowitz.
Indonesia has been lauded by the U.S. as the world's third largest democracy, the country with the world's largest Muslim population, and an important partner in combating terrorism and promoting Islam as a peaceful and pluralistic religion. Which is why, Washington explains, last November it lifted the military embargo placed on Indonesia 15 years ago in response to the actions of the Indonesian Military in the country's former province, East Timor.
Bush has met with Yudhoyono on several occasions, including bilateral meetings at the White House and during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Rice visited Jakarta in March and Wolfowitz was here as Rumsfeld's deputy in January 2005 and as the World Bank president this April.
Rumsfeld, however, is unlikely to receive the same treatment from Indonesian officials and the public as his two colleagues did during their stays here. To be honest, Rumsfeld is perceived here as a lame duck Cabinet member who is now preoccupied defending himself against critics in the United States.
Rumsfeld arrives in Jakarta with his reputation much tarnished. Several American generals have asked President Bush to dismiss the defense secretary, whom they accuse of incompetence in leading the world's most powerful military force. Bush has had to repeatedly defend one of his most trusted aides. As far as we can follow from reports in the Western media, trust in Rumsfeld is very much eroded among members of the American military.
Despite the controversies surrounding him, however, we must remember that Rumsfeld is in Jakarta as a legitimate U.S. defense secretary. Our leaders must avoid getting caught up in the controversy and making incorrect judgments about Rumsfeld, which could harm our national interests.
The United States has an interest in seeing a strong, democratic, prosperous and pluralistic Indonesia, and is very eager to help Indonesia achieve this goal. Indonesia is too important and too big to be left behind as a failed state.
Indonesia is not an American ally but the two countries share strong mutual interests, and their close cooperation will help both countries achieve their respective goals.
One of these goals for Indonesia is building a capable and professional military. The country's armed forces suffered much during the 15-year arms embargo, which greatly affected Indonesia's defense strength.
While we share the concerns over the possible revival of an abusive military, and we urge continued efforts to prevent this from happening, we recognize that Indonesia needs an effective military force. The lifting of the U.S. embargo will do a lot to restore the military's effectiveness as an external defense force.
Both Indonesia and the U.S. have been the victims of terrorism. And while the United States has in the past frequently criticized Indonesia's human rights record, it might not be too strong to say that Indonesia now treats terrorist suspects more humanely and more fairly than the U.S. Indonesia, for example, takes suspected terrorists to court, a step very often ignored by Washington.
At least morally, the U.S. is no longer in a position to preach about how we should conduct our war on terror. We also hope the U.S. administration will consider the sensitivity here when it comes to issues related to Islam, and at least not create new problems for the Yudhoyono administration in eliminating the roots of terrorism.
We welcome the defense secretary's visit to Jakarta, and hope it helps improve mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation between the countries. Indonesia is a friend of the United States, but not an ally. We assert our right to differ from the U.S. on issues of policy, and even to maintain friendly ties with countries the U.S. does not necessarily approve of.
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