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Aceh
on view: Iraq war deja vu
By Kafil Yamin
JAKARTA - As the Indonesian television journalist faced the cameras from atop a
military truck, the sound of gunfire interrupted his report, providing
immediacy and reality to his real-time broadcast from Aceh province.
The report by SCTV is exclusive coverage courtesy of the Indonesian military,
which has been arranging for media to go with its troops during operations that
began on May 19, after the collapse of the peace process between Acehnese
separatist rebels and Jakarta.
"We let reporters see what is happening. We want the public [to] know what we
are doing here," said Major-General Endang Suwarya, officer in charge of the
military emergency in Aceh, where rebels have been fighting the Indonesian
state for 26 years now.
SCTV's live report was followed by a press conference by Lieutenant-Colonel
Ahmad Yani Basuki, the commander for the restoration of security in Aceh, who
briefed reporters about how the military operations were going.
Eighty-seven members of the Free Aceh Movement, known by its Indonesian acronym
GAM, were killed, 32 were arrested and 41 surrendered, he rattled off. "The
military also guards convoys of truck carrying food and other relief goods for
the Acehnese," he said.
This scene, along with the embedding of journalists with military forces going
into hostile territory, somehow began to look familiar to Indonesian viewers,
who had followed the US-led invasion of Iraq closely in March.
To many, Basuki was acting like US General Tommy Franks, whose briefings at the
Central Command in Qatar were broadcast all around the world.
"The military operation, the TV coverage, and TV talk shows on this issue are
photocopies of the US-led 'liberation' of Iraq," commented John Hasbi, owner of
a traditional-food restaurant here.
"I think both the military and the media are imitating the US military and
media in handling the Iraqi war," he said. "They might deny it. But the way
they are doing this has given me a strong impression of such imitation."
On Wednesday, Indonesian military chief General Endriartono Sutarto said the
operation, being carried out by 40,000 military and police forces against some
5,000 GAM rebels, has been a success. "Our original plan was that within two
months we would identify their [GAM] locations and reclaim them, however we
made it in only two weeks," he said.
Television commentators have also been drawing parallels between the handling
of the war on Iraq and Jakarta's offensive on Aceh.
"The TNI [Indonesian military] treated the Aceh problem as a serious threat to
national integration, just like the US saw Iraq as a threat to world peace and
US national security," said columnist Ariel Heryanto. "The media have treated
the Aceh war as exclusive entertainment, just like CNN and BBC treated the
Iraqi war."
Likewise, similarities are being drawn between the Indonesian government and
the US government's political plans after the conflict. Just as Washington did
after the war on Iraq, Jakarta has been hinting at putting generals and
high-ranking military officers in top posts in the transitional administration
they see for Aceh after the current military campaign.
The military should be in full control during the transition period in order to
prevent separatists from disrupting it, Home Minister Hari Sabarno said.
All these signs of the armed forces' high-profile role not just in the military
- but also political - aspect of the crackdown on Aceh are causing discomfort
among Indonesians who say it exposes the primacy of the military's role in
politics even after the Suharto era.
The intensification of the conflict in Aceh, which has long resented Jakarta's
profiting from its rich natural resources and military abuses during the
Suharto years, may well mark a revival of the military's role in politics, some
activists fear. Thus far, the armed forces' role in politics has been on a
gradual decline since the Suharto dictatorship ended in 1998.
"The military's success in Aceh will help convince the public that the
military's role in politics makes sense," said Mahmudal, chairman of the
Student Solidarity for the People (SMUR). "Just like the US military campaign
in Iraq convinced the military that this [Aceh] operation made sense."
Others, however, say there may be a good side to this imitation - it could be
pushing the military to be more forthcoming about its actions.
In truth, compared to past operations, "the military operation by the TNI is
now so open, transparent and well managed," said Deden Riswanda, an activist
with the Pemuda Panca Marga youth organization.
The Aceh operation was approved by the House of Representatives. Its terms and
budget were also made public. Military officials said the operation is expected
to last six months, to cost Rp1.23 trillion (US$148 million) and is subject to
evaluation every month.
In Jakarta, Endriartono, Coordinating Minister for Security in Political
Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and other top officials hold regular meetings
with the House and journalists about Aceh.
"Never in the past has the military's work been so transparent," commented
Nafik Abdurrahman, a journalist. "The TNI has engaged in operations in Maluku,
Papua, Kalimantan and other areas of conflict in this country, but never with
this kind of transparency.
"The military officials have taken the US military as an example, and it's
good," he said. "But they also took bad examples."
For instance, Nafik said, "They restrict NGOs [non-governmental organizations]
working on humanitarian aid from having access to the Acehnese caught in the
warfare. They even reject aid that does not go through their command centers."
There has been little mention by military officials of the more than 20,000
Acehnese civilians displaced in the past few weeks, news reports say.
Finally, Indonesian officials appear to have begun to accuse Sweden of
harboring and supporting separatist leaders - just as US Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld issued warnings to Syria and Iran during the war on Iraq,
critics say.
Foreign Minister Hasan Wirayuda said that Indonesia will likely review its
diplomatic ties with Sweden - which had previously given political asylum to
GAM leader Hassan Tiro and is home to other GAM leaders in exile - if does not
cooperate with Jakarta.
"We might reduce the status of our diplomatic relations with Sweden in the near
future. It depends on how they respond to our proposals," he told journalists
here on Wednesday.
(Inter Press Service)
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