Engage Indonesia
by Stanley A. Weiss

If America is to succeed in its campaign to win the hearts and minds of the Muslim world, Indonesia is the place to start. The world's most populous Muslim nation remains the face of moderate Islam. More than 200 ethnic groups speak some 300-odd languages, but still wave the national banner of "unity in diversity." The music-loving Indonesians, led by their female President Megawati Sukamoputri, are unlikely to embrace a Taliban-like Islamic state anytime soon.

But as a Javanese friend once told me, Indonesians have an "innate dread of being left behind the more radical Islamic nations." And the writing is on the wall.

In a Gallup poll of the Islamic world, only 27% of Indonesians held a favorable view of the United States. Eighty-nine percent opposed the U.S.-led war on terrorism, more than any other Muslim nation surveyed, including Iran and Saudi Arabia. Next door to where U.S. forces are helping Philippine troops battle the Abu Sayyaf separatists, the Indonesian terrorist groups Jemaah Islamiyah and Laskar Jihad -- also linked to al Qaeda -- are waging a holy war to create their own Islamic state.

So how can America help Indonesia avert a dangerous drift into fundamentalism? First, tread lightly. Public slaps from Washington that Jakarta isn't doing enough to fight terrorism--even if true--only weaken moderates like President Megawati. Any appearance that she is doing America's bidding risks a backlash from hard-line Muslims. Among them is Vice President Hamzah Haz, a possible presidential candidate in 2004. As head of the nation's largest Muslim political party, he has questioned Ms. Megawati's right as a woman to rule, and has expressed hope that the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks will "cleanse the sins of the United States."

When Singapore's Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew charged that the masterminds of a terrorist plot in his nation "are still at large in Indonesia," Indonesians were outraged -- at Mr. Lee. Ms. Megawati's government came under intense public pressure to respond diplomatically.

Allowing Indonesia to cooperate quietly in the war in terrorism is the best way to undermine extremists and bolster moderates like Ms. Megawati. Trying to strong-arm Jakarta risks just the opposite. So far, the Bush administration seems to get it. Deputy Secretary of Defense (and former ambassador to Indonesia) Paul Wolfowitz said recently that a U.S. military mission in Indonesia would be "counterproductive."

Second, offer Indonesians a better vision of democracy than the corruption, cronyism and lawlessness that is pushing the dispossessed into the arms of the extremists. The U.S. Congress should approve the $130 million President George W. Bush has pledged to help Indonesia in its democratic transition. Washington should greatly expand programs that are helping Indonesians build democratic institutions like clean courts and banks. Likewise, a massive exchange program between Indonesian and American parliamentarians, lawyers, police, business leaders and clerics would help create a new generation of Indonesians schooled in the inner workings of democracy.

Third, suck the lifeblood of out fundamentalism's appeal, just as the United States did with communism during the Cold War -- with the promise of economic opportunity. Continued U.S. support for World Bank and International Monetary Fund projects and the $500 million President Bush has pledged to Ms. Megawati to promote U.S. trade and investment in Indonesia are steps in the right direction. Only when Indonesia is stable will the foreign investment that brings prosperity return. And only when that prosperity creates a strong middle class will democracy take firm root.

Finally, help President Megawati reform the most powerful and influential institution in Indonesian society -- the military. Once feared as the oppressor of the people, the army was celebrated as the defender of democracy last summer when it refused to help Ms. Megawati's predecessor dissolve Parliament. The military's role in politics is slowly being phased out. In an extraordinary move against the old culture of military impunity, trials are moving forward for officers implicated in the killings and mayhem that devastated East Timor after its vote for independence from Indonesia in 1999.

The congressional ban on American arms sales and programs aimed at human-rights training hurts both nations more than ever. Indonesia's feeble coast guard and navy cannot protect a 3,000-mile archipelago of 17,000 islands against illegal fishing, never mind against terrorists seeking refuge. The commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, Admiral Dennis Blair, says that the restrictions "limit our effectiveness" in combating terrorism.

Even Australia's military -- which fought against Indonesian-backed militias in East Timor during the U.N. peacekeeping mission there two years ago -- is rebuilding ties with Jakarta. Meanwhile, the United States keeps Indonesia at arm's length, but embraces nations like Saudi Arabia, Egypt and now Uzbekistan, with their criminal records on human rights.

President Bush's decision to begin expanding military ties with Indonesia should be the beginning of a trend. Non-lethal training and education programs would expose military officers to international norms of human rights, civilian control of the military and respect for the rule of law. Bringing Indonesian officers to American universities would afford them a broader view of the role of a professional military in their own emerging democracy.

Can America succeed in making its case to the Muslim world? An early test will be whether Indonesia remains a constitutional democracy or slips into an Islamic theocracy. The answer lies in the hearts and minds of 228 million Indo-nesians. If America cannot make its case there, it won't make it anywhere.

The writer is founder and chairman of Business Executives for National Security. The views he expresses are his own.