AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH INDONESIA'S TOP MILITARY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 000222

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP, PM, ISN
NSC FOR E.PHU
SECDEF FOR USAP/ISA/AP P.IPSEN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/05/2018
TAGS: PREL MARR MASS ID
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH INDONESIA'S TOP MILITARY
COMMANDER

REF: A. JAKARTA 0164

B. JAKARTA 0083

C. 07 JAKARTA 3335

Classified By: Ambassador Cameron R. Hume, reasons 1.4(b,d).


1. SUMMARY: In a February 1 call on Indonesian Armed Forces
Chief of Staff General Santoso, the Ambassador discussed
progress in U.S.-Indonesian defense relations and future
regional security challenges in Southeast Asia. Santoso, who
in December was appointed to the TNI's most senior position,
welcomed closer mil-mil cooperation with the United States,
reviewed progress on military reform and said Indonesia's
view of a U.S. presence in the region remained positive. The
Ambassador said the United States wanted to continue to work
with the TNI to promote reform. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) Chief of Staff (Panglima) of the Indonesian Armed
Forces (TNI) General Djoko Santoso welcomed the Ambassador in
a courtesy call on February 1, noting that the Ambassador was
the first ambassador to pay a courtesy call since Santoso's
installation as head of the armed forces on December 28, 2007
(ref c). Santoso expressed the hope that the United States
and Indonesia could maintain a constructive dialogue and
enhance bilateral cooperation during his tenure.

MIL-MIL COOPERATION CENTRAL TO BILATERAL RELATIONSHIP


3. (C) Congratulating Santoso on his recent appointment, the
Ambassador said mil-mil cooperation was central to the
bilateral relationship and needed to move in step with
overall bilateral cooperation. The relationship had seen
many good years and a few bad years. The Ambassador said he
hoped both countries could turn their attention from the past
and focus on the future. The relationship should be natural,
constructive and based on mutual understanding.


4. (C) Over the past several months, the Ambassador noted, he
had worked to remove internal USG restrictions on the
training of the Indonesian Army's Special Forces, KOPASSUS.
He would travel to Washington in the next two weeks to update
agencies and Congress on this and other aspects of the
security cooperation agenda. He expressed appreciation for
efforts of the new Navy Chief, Admiral Sumardjono, to find a
way to proceed with the emplacement of naval surveillance
radars in the Malacca Strait and the Sulawesi Sea (ref b).


5. (C) Santoso agreed that it was better to look to the
future. Indonesia and the United States could cooperate
constructively in the future, and both sides should think
about how to improve cooperation. He recalled positive
discussions he had had with senior U.S. military officials in
recent years, including with JCS Chairman General Schumaker
in Bangkok in 2005, LTC Brown in 2006 and Army Chief of Staff
General Casey in 2007. Santoso expressed appreciation for
the Ambassador's efforts to persuade colleagues in Washington
of Indonesia's progress. Engagement and assistance by the
U.S. military with the Indonesian Army, Navy and Air Force
was helping to professionalize and reform the TNI, Santoso
said.


FUTURE CHALLENGES IN EAST ASIAN SECURITY


6. (C) The Ambassador said East Asia was changing rapidly.
Washington was pondering the future U.S. role in the region.
The United States was a Pacific power, and this would not
change. The rise of India and particularly China was
creating a new environment. This was a natural process and
was occurring in a non-threatening way, but the United States
and states in the region needed to consider how to adjust to
these changes. It was important to begin now to develop
answers together.


7. (C) Santoso said the TNI's view of the United States and
its role in East Asia had not changed. It was the U.S. view

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of Indonesia which had changed. Over the years, Indonesia
had contributed significantly to U.S. interests in the
region. Since independence, Indonesia had coped with the
challenge of radical Islam, providing a basis for cooperation
against international terrorism. Indonesia had collaborated
with the United States to oppose communism. Given these
common interests, Indonesia and the United States should find
it easy to cooperate and to agree on the proper role of the
military in a democracy.

TNI REFORM


8. (C) Santoso said TNI reform involved five main areas: 1)
an end to involvement in politics and government, 2) an exit
from commercial activities, 3) subordination to the rule of
law and civilian authority, 4) professionalization and 5)
improving the welfare of TNI personnel. Along with
withdrawal from political activity, the TNI had changed its
structure and doctrine consistent with a democratic order.
The TNI had completed its inventory of TNI-related businesses
and it was now up to the government to decide which ones to
transfer. President Yudhoyono had agreed that soldiers
should be subject to civilian justice for non-duty crimes and
now was seeking the necessary revisions in legislation and
legal codes to implement this decision. Santoso said the
success of efforts to professionalize the military and
improve the welfare of its personnel depended largely on
financial resources, notably the national budget. The TNI
welcomed U.S. help in increasing the professionalism of the
TNI to make it fully compatible with democracy.


9. (C) The Ambassador said he agreed with General Santoso's
description of reality and commented that some in the United
States were still seeing Indonesia as it had been eight years
earlier. It was clear that the TNI and Indonesian society
had constructively dealt with many challenges and had made
great progress on reform. This provided a basis for
cooperation against future challenges. The United States
wanted to continue to support reform and work constructively
with Indonesia. Visitors from Congress, the Administration,
U.S. industry and foundations often remarked, after visiting
Indonesia, that they had been unaware the country had changed
so dramatically.


10. (C) Santoso said a key challenge, particularly on the
Indonesian side, was public relations: the Indonesian press
now had broad freedom, but often this meant exposing the bad
while ignoring the good. He noted the recent case where his
words, he asserted, had been misconstrued by the
English-language Jakarta daily newspaper, the Jakarta Post
(ref a). The Ambassador said there was no doubt that huge,
revolutionary change had occurred in Indonesia. A change of
this magnitude could not easily be stopped or turned aside,
and certainly did not hinge on a single statement.


11. (C) Santoso said the authoritarian Suharto era had
delayed the development of democratic institutions in
Indonesia, and this had affected the TNI. Education and
economic welfare were now leading national priorities.
Indonesia appreciated U.S. help in overcoming these
obstacles. The Ambassador acknowledged these challenges as
real.
HUME