Letters: The TNI responds

Since the July 17 bombings in Mega Kuningan, many have called for the Indonesian Military (TNI) to assume an active role in the fight against terrorism.

Since then, the Defense Minister and TNI commanders have repeatedly explained that clear regulations are needed if the TNI is to be given grater powers. The TNI is strongly committed to abiding by the laws that govern peace time military operations, including fighting terrorism, as stipulated by Article 7 of Law No. 34/2004.

But there are still many parties that can not accept the need for the TNI's involvement in fighting terrorism, as detailed in the Aug. 21 article "SBY asserts TNI role in terror fight".

Poengky Indarti of Imarsial linked this issue with the TNI's wish for a larger budget, while Edwin Partogi of Kontras said the move would be a threat to democracy.

Poenky's statement is baseless, and quite frankly rather insulting to the TNI. As a state institution, the TNI's budget is jointly decided on by the executive branch and the House of Representatives.

Therefore, it is very unlikely that TNI could manipulate the issue in order to get larger budget. If the TNI is given a mandate to help fight terrorism, it will be base on the Article 7 of the TNI law.

Meanwhile, the opinion that the TNI's involvement in fighting terrorism would endanger democracy is difficult to understand because terrorists themselves are a tremendous threat to democracy.

Terrorism is not the enemy of just one nation, but of the entire civilized world.

Rear Marshal Sagom Tamboen
TNI spokesman
Jakarta