Original-Recipient: rfc822;tommy.pollak@bredband.net
DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; q=dns; c=nofws;
  s=dk20050327; d=igc.org;
  b=S1vjQO3c3vTvZ+CC4dfq/rK57rkEGfRct0m1UGTjwkj5zGAYh6P5uwh7E3j5A88k;
  h=Received:X-Mailer:Date:To:From:Subject:Mime-Version:Content-Type:Message-ID:X-ELNK-Trace:X-Originating-IP;
Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:20:40 -0500
To: east-timor@lists.riseup.net
From: ETAN <fbp@igc.org>
Subject: WSJ: Obama's Indonesia Test 
Mime-Version: 1.0
Message-ID: <E1L3F7C-00041X-EH@elasmtp-scoter.atl.sa.earthlink.net>
Errors-to: east-timor-owner@lists.riseup.net
Precedence: bulk
Sender: east-timor-owner@lists.riseup.net
Content-type: multipart/mixed; boundary="----------=_1227209365-12557-440"

This is a multi-part message in MIME format...

------------=_1227209365-12557-440
Content-Type: text/html; charset="us-ascii"

<html>
<body>
[Wall Street Journal condemns ETAN's efforts to limit U.S. military
assistance to Indonesia to support human rights. ETAN believes that the
Wall Street Journal and the Bush administration are wrong, and that we
and concerned members of Congress are right to emphasize justice and
accountability for the peoples of East Timor and Indonesia. Show your
support for ETAN by donating today. Go to:
<a href="http://www.etan.org/etan/donate.htm" eudora="autourl">
http://www.etan.org/etan/donate.htm</a>. Thank you.]<br><br>
<br>
REVIEW &amp; OUTLOOK<br><br>
<font size=2>NOVEMBER 20, 2008, 12:47 P.M. ET</font> <br><br>
<br>
<h1><b>Obama's Indonesia Test <br><br>
<br>
</b></h1><h2><b>Democrats on Capitol Hill are obstructing military
ties.</b></h2>From today's Wall Street Journal Asia<br><br>
With all eyes peeled for clues to President-elect Barack Obama's foreign
policy, here's an issue to watch: ties between the Pentagon and
Indonesia's military. It sounds low-profile, but it's important to
American security interests. And to look out for national security on
this issue, the incoming Obama Administration will need to stand down
liberal Senators and interest groups.<br><br>
At issue is Democratic obstruction of military ties with Indonesia.
Washington has long used such ties to alliance-building effect. Since the
1960s, the U.S. has worked with Indonesian officers in a variety of
exchanges ranging from short courses at military colleges to joint
training exercises. These programs help Indonesians gain technical
expertise as well as learn key values, such as observing human rights and
respecting civilian control. In return, the U.S. develops relationships
with the officers who lead the military of the world's largest
Muslim-majority democracy.<br><br>
But these programs have fallen victim to liberal interests in Washington.
Groups such as the New York-based East Timor and Indonesia Action Network
and Amnesty International object to offering military assistance to
countries with bad human-rights records. These groups have found allies
among Democrats in Congress who are still trying to block improving
ties.<br><br>
Indonesia's military has certainly had human-rights problems in the past.
Washington's relationship with Jakarta was first scaled back in the 1990s
amid atrocities in East Timor. But since the downfall of President
Suharto in 1998, the Indonesian military has made progress on the
humanitarian front. President Bush recognized this when he normalized
military relations in 2005. Australia and Britain have resumed all
military cooperation they had suspended over earlier rights
concerns.<br><br>
That's smart policy given Indonesia's role as a key ally in the global
war on terror. Radical groups linked to al Qaeda such as Jemaah Islamiyah
and Abu Sayyaf have targeted Indonesia and used its territory as a
staging ground for attacks elsewhere. Jemaah Islamiyah's October 2002
attack in Bali killed 202, including American tourists. Jakarta needs
U.S. help to suppress the terrorists in its midst. Cutting off ties was
shortsighted in the 1990s; after September 11 it's negligent.<br><br>
Undeterred, Democratic Senators Patrick Leahy (Vermont) and Russ Feingold
(Wisconsin) sent a letter in April to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
&quot;to express opposition&quot; to U.S. training with Indonesian
military units. As chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee
that oversees State Department activities, Mr. Leahy has used his
influence to stymie military cooperation, even threatening to cut off
Indonesia-related spending.<br><br>
Mr. Leahy's primary concern is Indonesia's elite special-forces unit,
Kopassus, which his office says was at the forefront of human-rights
abuses in Timor and has since made little progress in humanitarian
reform. Yet since 1998, Jakarta has removed many senior Kopassus leaders
from their positions for abuses in Timor and elsewhere. Its current
officers have passed vetting by the U.S. embassy in Jakarta. More contact
with U.S. officers would help strengthen human-rights values.<br><br>
Meanwhile, this issue is starting to impinge on U.S.-Indonesia ties. In
February, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates visited Indonesia, pledging
full military support. The State Department canceled joint military
exercises with Kopassus two months later, under pressure from Senator
Leahy. In retaliation, Jakarta has stopped cooperating in U.S.
counternarcotics efforts in the region.<br><br>
Now Mr. Obama will need to decide the next step. He can give in to
liberal interest groups and Capitol Hill Democrats and allow a critical
U.S. alliance to falter. Or he can put pressure on elements of his base
to repair a strategically important relationship with a country where he
spent part of his childhood and with which he says he feels a special
bond. How his Administration handles this issue will say a lot about the
tenor of his foreign policy.<br>
</body>
<br>
<br>
<div>etanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetan</div>
<br>
<div>ETAN welcomes your financial support. Go to
<a href="http://etan.org/etan/donate.htm" EUDORA=AUTOURL>
http://etan.org/etan/donate.htm</a> to donate. Thanks.</div>
<br>
<div>John M. Miller&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
fbp@igc.org</div>
<div>National Coordinator</div>
<div>East Timor &amp; Indonesia Action Network (ETAN)</div>
<div>PO Box 21873, Brooklyn, NY 11202-1873 USA</div>
<div>Phone: (718)596-7668&nbsp; Mobile phone: (917)690-4391&nbsp; </div>
<div>Skype: john.m.miller</div>
<div>Web site:
<a href="http://www.etan.org/" EUDORA=AUTOURL>http://www.etan.org</a>
</div>
<br>
<div>Send a blank e-mail message to info@etan.org to find out </div>
<div>how to learn more about East Timor on the Internet</div>
<br>
etanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetan</html>


------------=_1227209365-12557-440
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"; name="message-footer.txt"
Content-Disposition: inline; filename="message-footer.txt"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit


[This message was distributed via the east-timor news list. For info on how to subscribe send a blank e-mail to info@etan.org. To support ETAN see http://etan.org/etan/donate.htm ]


------------=_1227209365-12557-440--