Indonesia
Editor, Greg Salisbury

Does the threat of terrorism emerging from Indonesia warrant reengagement
with the Indonesian military?

Yes, because of the terror threat, the U.S. needs to reengage with the
Indonesian military.
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Current calls for reengagement are justified by those who argue it as
necessary in order to aid the "war on terror".   Intrinsic to the argument
for engagement is to renew military aid, sales and training, the latter of
which was renewed in February, 2005 with the restart of the International
Military Education and Training (IMET) program.

Indeed several 'jihadist' Islamic organizations, most notably Jemaah
Islamiyah (JI), have conducted terrorist acts, most notably the Bali
bombings in October 2002 which killed over 200 people.  Subsequent
investigations revealed an organized, though small, network in Indonesia
with links to other members elsewhere in Southeast Asia and to al-Qaeda
members themselves.

Indonesia is a predominantly Muslim nation and has in the pre-Suharto era,
under the country's first President Sukarno, resisted American (and Western)
influence.    However, this resistance has not previously been strongly
linked to religion.   Indeed it was American pressure on the Dutch that
initiated Dutch withdrawal from the archipelago in 1948 leading to
independence for the fledgling nation.

Arguments for engagement also posit that the U.S. is capable of fostering a
"moderate" or "civilized" Islam.   These efforts, as argued by Sen. Bond in
the link below, would work to fund public education, such that
poverty-stricken youth would not end up on any anti-Western Islamic run
schools.   They would also work to end funding of puritanical Islamic causes
by Saudi charities.

Indonesia and the Changing Front in the War on Terrorism, April 28, 2005,
Heritage Foundation lecture by Sen. Christopher S. Bond (R) MO,
http://www.heritage.org/Research/AsiaandthePacific/hl875.cfm
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