Neighbour dismays former top brass

JAKARTA - The seven retired Indonesian generals and colonels are discussing the decision to send United Nations troops to East Timor.

None of them are happy about it, although they are making an effort to contain their regret at what is to them an almost unbearable blow to Indonesia's national pride.

What they make no attempt to conceal is the dismay and in some cases the frustration they feel at Australia's leading role in the East Timor affair.

Australians, they imply, have rubbed Indonesia's nose in the dirt over East Timor. They have been discourteous, unneighbourly. Indonesian sensitivities have been hurt. There are rising anti-foreign feelings; there could be long-term consequences for Australia.

"Could you explain to us why the Australian Government wants to lead the peacekeeping force?" asks Brigadier-General Imam Soepomo, who served as Indonesian defence attache in Canberra between 1968-72 and ambassador to Papua New Guinea between 1983-86.

"In my opinion it will cause problems for Australia in the future in maintaining harmonious relations with Indonesia. Must Australia be the leader of this peacekeeping force?"

Those sentiments are echoed by a retired major-general."My question," he says, clearly puzzled, "is why is Australia so eager to lead the peacekeeping force in East Timor?"

A lieutenant-general suggests, a with a hint of grim satisfaction, that the Australians may get a bit more than they bargained for in East Timor, where the situation "is very risky."

"We all hope it will be peaceful, that the Australian general will be successful, that he will receive lots of decorations for a job well done. But it could be the other way around, like in Somalia, Kosovo also. Kosovo is still a mess.

"If Australia wants to take that risk, we don't want to say anything. But if you want to go ahead, with all the risks, "OK; go ahead!'"

"I am very, very sad to see a downturn in relations with Australia," says Major-General Sukotjo Tjokroatmodjo. "I had excellent relations with Australia when I was assistant to the minister of defence for international co-operation between 1978 and 1984. We have been friends since Indonesia became independent."

The seven men in the room are all veterans of Indonesia's 1945-49 independence struggle against the Dutch. They are educated, well-travelled, hospitable, unfailingly polite. But their own intense nationalism appears to preclude any sympathy for East Timorese nationalism and at least one of those present seems still to be clinging to the hope that the outcome of the August 30 ballot might be overturned in some way.

During the meeting no concern is expressed about the horrors that have been visited on the East Timorese people. There is no apparent concern that a younger generation of Indonesian military leaders may have gone competely off the rails in East Timor, allowing their militia proxies to lay waste to cities and towns, driving hundreds of thousands of people from their homes.

A retired general who once served in a senior diplomatic post warns of a new and potentially dangerous nationalism in Indonesia, brought on by a sense of national humiliation.

"We should consider the mood of people in Jakarta, especially the youth," he says. "It's like a new wave of nationalism and the mood is very strong against Australia." Indonesians have been reminded, he says, that there are no permanent friends, only permanent interests.

One problem, said Brigadier Soepomo, speaking only half in jest, was that Australia had "too much democracy."
-SYDNEY MORNING HERALD