Having been defeated in its attempts to have sole control of the Malacca Straits, the U.S. is now actively wooing Indonesia – the most populated Muslim democracy – to become its frontline ally in the South East Asian (SEA) region. The U.S. is certainly up and running on the diplomatic front, attempting at gaining support from Muslim nationsw while it is clear it can now 'radar' monitor even Malaysia or Thailand from within Indonesian territory.

According to some recent data obtained by WorldFutures, the USA is making a lot of efforts to woo Jakarta as one of its strategic partners in the SEA region and by such, putting it under strong US influence altogether. The reason for it is not only the appropriate geo-strategic location of the country and its rich natural resources, but its great authority over ASEAN countries as well as over the Muslim world and the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) specifically.

The U.S. has also started to replenish Indonesia’s military arsenal, turning yet another leaf in the control it used to impose on supplying weapons to Jakarta, raising the alarm of Rights groups across Indonesia and Europe altogether. The link shows the recent increase in U.S. military aids to Indonesia.

 

The U.S. offered at least 5 Radars to Indonesia , to be installed within the Malacca Straits vicinity. An article posted in the Indonesian Embassy website (in U.S.) says in order to support maritime security in South East Asia, the US government had provided five reconnaissance radars to be installed by Indondesia along the Malacca Strait.

The five radars were still in the process of being installed (as of February 2008) and would be part of the Integrated Maritime Surveillance Sytem (IMSS). Indonesia itself had installed four radars in the Malacca Strait.

Seven units of the same radars will also be installed in the Makassar Strait. Indonesia is also exploring the possibility of obtaining amphibious tanks from the United States, which appears willing to supply those to the Indonesians but with political benefits for the U.S. in return.

 

Gaining control of the OIC is part of the world-wide plans by the U.S. to keep a tag on the Muslim world. Washington is hoping high that its good relations with Indonesia will finally help it break the ice with the Muslim world. It has very poor relationship with Muslims and repairing this situation is all that matters to the U.S. now after years of crusades against Islam.

To arrange closer ties with Indonesia in the military field, Washington is encouraging Jakarta to conduct joint exercises in the region, especially in the Malacca Straits. These exercises are organized jointly with American military aids under cover of technical experts and CIA operatives under cover of press relations officers or advisers.

 

The U.S. even offer to supply all necessary armament for armed forces operating in the Straits, including radar equipment. Washington has also informed the Indonesian military and the government indeed that it is ready to send Indonesian military personnel for retraining at American military bases in the region or in the U.S. itself. To many Indonesian soldiers, this is an unprecedented offer since the U.S. has banned any such relationship with the Indonesian army after the independence of East Timor or Timor Leste.

Apparently the U.S. has understood that the Indonesians are not that responsible for the troubles in East Timor when it was annexed by Indonesia in the 1970’s. Washington has also refused to press the UN or other agencies from targeting Indonesian soldiers, Generals or politicians for crimes allegedly committed during Indonesia’s rule over East Timor.

Most of the troubles in East Timor during Indonesia’s rule was created by western forces, including Australian secret forces, paying ‘rebels’ to stir troubles in the Indonesian province. These were purely blamed on the Indonesians, who were shot in their toes for granting Independence to East Timor in haste in the late 1990’s.

Besides, Washington planned to invite a wide range of young government employees and those involved in non-government service sectors, as well as mass-media representatives to the US for training purposes. This again is unprecedented since Indonesia was so far viewed as a ‘terror’ hot bed by the American administration of George W. Bush since 911.

This sudden U-Turn by the Bush administration is doubtful since it is tainted with hypocrisy, said an Indonesian political expert who added that beyond all rhetoric’s, the U.S. was still a dangerous opponent of the Muslim world. Many Indonesians are dubious of the intentions of the U.S. which supported anti-Islamic elements in the country after 911 and disregarded Indonesia’s views on the war on terror.

Indonesia is now under the grip of major Jewish companies such as Halliburton – which controls more than the oil and energy sector in the country – while the telecommunication sector in Indonesia is now under the direct influence of Jewish based telcos. Road construction too is said to be under the control of foreign companies having links with Israel.

The Israeli push in Indonesia has obviously helped the U.S. in communicating with the Indonesian regime and has made it easier for Washington to approach the Indonesians with their offers for help.
 
Currently, the U.S. is offering to carry out different joint scientific and humanitarian projects, to provide help in conducting public polls and democratic elections in Islamic countries and others. Indonesia is one of the countries targeted due to its inclination towards a democratic system that is acceptable to the U.S.

To fulfill these plans the US promises to increase financial and political support of Indonesia. And it looks like this plan really can work out, because the country’s leadership shows its positive attitude for such cooperation. And even more: the Ministry of Defense is already looking forward to get some armament from the USA, and Jakarta easily agreed to accommodate American radar equipment at its soil.

U.S. technical personnel were seen in Riau province and other regions, helping Indonesian military in monitoring radars. At times these resulted in the bullying of local Indonesian fishermen in the Malacca Straits while small traders who usually carry foodstuffs and other items were targeted by Indonesian marines via radar systems. They were arrested and their goods confiscated under new rulings that says no unlicensed boats are to carry goods in the Malacca Straits.

At the same time, it’s quite clear that there will be a price for everything, and such cooperation will definitely lead to a tainted sovereignty of the countries where the U.S. intend to ‘offer’ the stick and the carrot.


And all those so-called “humanitarian and educational” cooperation projects have clear goals that are to create very loyal pro-American layers of youth Indonesians, who may come to power in the future and will become allies of the White House. This will allow the White House to have a strong influence on the international and domestic policy decisions of the countries concerned.

Thus, during the political address to the Indonesian Parliament US officials put it very openly and clearly that they will support those who stand for Jakarta-Washington consolidation of relations, especially in military and armament supply issues. Once again, we see the stick wagging in one hand while the carrot is being fed by the other hand. Either you are with us or you are against us is what the U.S. is telling the Indonesians.

Moreover, the radar equipment already installed in Indonesia has a really wide range of abilities. It can take observations not only over Indonesia itself but also over the whole Malacca Straits region, which means the U.S. can monitor Malaysia right from Indonesian soil.

All these facts put together leads to a frightening conclusion. That in spite of those short-term benefits of such Jakarta-Washington cooperation, the long-term consequences will be definitely negative and will stand out when it comes to the territorial sovereignty and integrity of the Muslim countries in the region.

The U.S. remains the ‘pariah’ state that is against Islam and will do everything to woo the Muslims into believing that the U.S. was right in fighting Afghanistan and Iraq in order to eliminate extremism among Muslims. The battle is not yet won but with the full cooperation from Jakarta, the U.S. might as well claim a first leg victory in the diplomatic battles that is ongoing.

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment