Cables show US reversed Indonesian army ban for Obama visit

[Hannah Bell]

The United States overturned a ban on training the Indonesian Kopassus army special forces—despite their long history of arbitrary detention, torture and murder—after Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono threatened to derail President Obama’s trip to the country last month. Leaked US State Department cables released to the Sydney Morning Herald by WikiLeaks reveal that Yudhoyono privately told the Americans in January that the ban was the “litmus test of the bilateral relationship” between the US and Indonesia.

In July, Defence Secretary Robert Gates announced that Washington was lifting all restrictions on US military cooperation with the notorious military unit, removing the last barrier between joint operations between the two nations’ armed forces. The ban on Kopassus was imposed in 1999 in response to its atrocities against independence advocates in East Timor.

Yudhoyono’s call to lift the Kopassus training ban appeared in a cable from the US embassy in Jakarta. “President Yudhoyono (SBY) and other senior Indonesian officials have made it clear to us that SBY views the issue of Army Special Forces (KOPASSUS) training as a litmus test of the bilateral relationship and that he believes the … visit of President Obama will not be successful unless this issue is resolved in advance of the visit,” the cable stated.

The resumption of US ties with Kopassus, which was strenuously opposed by human rights groups, academics and victims’ families, was determined by the Obama administration’s steps to counter Chinese influence in Asia. Obama’s stopover in Indonesia underlined the importance of the most populous South East Asian nation in the US’s strategic positioning in the region. The visit was one leg of a diplomatic campaign that amounted, in the words of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to “a full court press” against China.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/dec2010/indo-d18.shtml

[Turborama]

1. This has been reported in The Jakarta Post & Jakarta Globe, too

US agreed to lift Indonesian army ban for Obama visit

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 12/17/2010 4:09 PM

Indonesia threatened to derail a visit to Jakarta by President Barack Obama this year unless he overturned the US ban on training the controversial Kopassus army special forces, Australian newspaper Sydney Morning Herald reported Friday.

The newspaper, which obtained leaked US State Department cables from WikiLeaks, reveals that the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, privately told the Americans that continuing the ban - introduced in 1999 because of Kopassus' appalling human rights record - was the ''litmus test of the bilateral relationship'' between the US and Indonesia.

Six months later, the US agreed to resume ties with Kopassus, despite fierce criticism from some human rights groups and American politicians about Jakarta's failure to hold officers to account for their role in atrocities.

The cables detail US concerns about Indonesia's failure to prosecute the military personnel responsible for murder and torture during the conflicts in East Timor and Aceh.

Full article: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/12/17/us-agreed-lift-indonesian-army-ban-obama-visit.html

US Overturns Ban on Kopassus Training for Obama's Visit, WikiLeaks

Jakarta. Indonesia tried to hinder US president Barack Obama's visit to Jakarta in November this year in an attempt to encourage him to annihilate a US ban on training Indonesia's national army special forces known as Kopassus, according to diplomatic cables published by the Sydney Morning Herald from WikiLeaks.

Teuku Faizasyah, presidential spokesman for international affairs, told the Jakarta Globe that the palace will not comment on the WikiLeaks cable.

“We don't want to respond to whatever WikiLeaks says from time to time,” he said.

Faizasyah also doubted the accuracy of the cables. “What the cables say do not make any sense,” he said.

Full article: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/us-overturns-ban-on-kopassus-training-for-obamas-visit-wikileaks/412233

[Turborama]

2. Something doesn't smell right about this: "made available exclusively to the Herald by WikiLeaks"

I'm sorry but I'm getting a whiff of political bullshit from this, WikiLeaks released it "exclusively" and there's no link to the actual cable itself?

And it's nowhere to be found on Cable Viewer: http://213.251.145.96/cablegate.html

Also, Indonesia has been looking forward to Obama's visit since he was elected, and even more so recently as he had cancelled his highly anticipated visit 2 times already.

Does this look like the actions of a man who would want to derail President Obama's long awaited visit so some of his troops could be trained? http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x516948

US agreed to reverse Indonesian army ban for Obama visit
Philip Dorling and Nick McKenzie
December 17, 2010

INDONESIA threatened to derail a visit to Jakarta by President Barack Obama this year unless he overturned the US ban on training the controversial Kopassus army special forces.

Leaked US State Department cables reveal that the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, privately told the Americans that continuing the ban - introduced in 1999 because of Kopassus's appalling human rights record - was the ''litmus test of the bilateral relationship'' between the US and Indonesia.

Six months later the US agreed to resume ties with Kopassus, despite fierce criticism from some human rights groups and American politicians about Jakarta's failure to hold officers to account for their role in atrocities.

The cables, made available exclusively to the Herald by WikiLeaks, detail US concerns about Indonesia's failure to prosecute the military personnel responsible for murder and torture during the conflicts in East Timor and Aceh.

More: http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/us-agreed-to-reverse-indonesian-army-ban-for-obama-visit-20101216-18zmw.html

I trust Australia's newspapers as much as I trust America's TV news.