31 January 2002
Transcript: Adm. Blair Discusses Military Cooperation in SE Asia
(January 29 press briefing in Singapore) (4140)
The commander-in-chief of U.S. forces in the Pacific (CINCPAC) said
that the United States and Indonesia are engaged in "modest" joint
efforts to combat terrorism, but added that he hoped more would be
possible once the Indonesian military is successfully reformed.
"We have a relationship with Indonesia and we also currently are
looking for opportunities to take specific action with Indonesia on
actions to combat terrorism which would involve taking down terrorist
groups that would be a danger to both of us," Admiral Dennis C. Blair
told reporters in Singapore January 29.
"But certainly we could all be much more effective if we had a fuller
relationship, which we do hope would be available as the Indonesian
armed forces make progress" with reforms, he said.
The U.S. Congress passed legislation severely limiting U.S.-Indonesian
military relations following Indonesian army-led violence in East
Timor in response to the former Indonesian territory's vote for
independence in 1999.
"Although we have an embargo on some military equipment going to
Indonesia, we do permit the sale and provision of non-lethal
equipment," Blair noted.
He said the "modest targeted assistance" the U.S. provides Indonesia
includes spare parts for cargo planes and navy vessels.
In addition, Blair said, the United States and Indonesia presently
compare intelligence on international terrorist groups; meet at
conferences of common interest; cooperate on multi-national
anti-piracy patrols in the Straits of Malacca; join efforts against
illegal immigration; and participate in navy-to-navy exercises
centered on humanitarian actions.
"As far as more, additional actions, those are still being considered
and worked on right now," he said. "They're certainly nothing of the
scale of what we're working with in the Philippines that's planned for
the near future," Blair continued, referring to the deployment of U.S.
troops to assist the Philippine armed forces in tracking down members
of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group in the southern Philippine island of
Mindanao.
Blair expressed optimism concerning the progress of reform in the
Indonesian military, saying that the soldiers were receiving more
training and "acting more in accordance with proper rules of
engagement."
"I'd see a generally positive trend," he continued.
"I think that's a trend that needs to be encouraged and nurtured and
assisted so that it can reach the level in which we can resume the
relations which I think would be in both of our countries' interests,"
Blair said.
Blair also praised Singapore as being "a strong supporter and partner
ever since the 11th of September" with regard to the U.S.-initiated
war against terrorism.
Following is a transcript of the program:
(begin transcript)
UNITED STATES
PACIFIC COMMAND
TRANSCRIPT
Adm. Dennis C. Blair
Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Command
Media Roundtable
Singapore
January 29, 2002
Adm. Blair: This visit to Singapore is something I try to do a couple
of times a year to stay in touch with our strong partner, the
Singapore armed forces.
My discussions this time have covered a very dense set of
relationships that we have with the Singapore armed forces. Our forces
are both serving together in East Timor, for example. We are
conducting a number of joint research and development projects
together. We talk a lot about regional issues. Our forces both
participate in exercises. Cobra Gold coming up here in a couple of
months is an example. But the issue which has our intensity and is in
the front of our minds these days, of course, is our campaign against
terrorism, and Singapore has been a strong supporter and partner ever
since the 11th of September, and as we all know last month Singapore
arrested a number of members of what looks like a terrorist ring here
and showed a video on television of some of the tactical planning that
had been undertaken by at least one member of the group.
I mentioned in my meetings here that we are very grateful for and
pleased with the defensive measures that have been taken by Singapore.
When I came in at Paya Labar Airfield it was clear that there was good
tight security. And as I discussed with my hosts after this ring was
arrested here in December, we reviewed the force protection measures
that Singapore had taken here in addition to the usual strong measures
that are taken and we went ahead with the visits of the carrier battle
group USS Vinson, and the Marine expeditionary unit and amphibious
group, USS Bohnomme Richard. Those sailors and marines had an
excellent visit here late last month, and they were made to feel
welcome. I can tell you they enjoyed being here after several months
off in the North Arabian Sea being involved in combat operations
there.
We are looking not only to the present struggle against terrorism but
to the future, and we think that a long term relationship with the
Singapore armed forces will continue and intensify, and it is in both
of our country's interests and the interests of the region, so we just
see more good things in the military relationship between the United
States and Singapore coming up.
Let me stop there. The rest of my trip, going from here to the Sabah
area of Malaysia and to Vietnam and then up to Japan and Korea. It
will be my first trip to Vietnam. Then checking in also with Malaysia
with whom we do a lot of work here in the region.
So let me take any questions you may have after that.
Question: Admiral, Michael Richards of the Herald Tribune.
The trip to Sabah in Malaysia, why are you going? Is it linked to the
joint exercise, U.S. Philippine exercise that's about to get underway
in the southern Philippines? And in relation to that exercise can you
at this point give an assurance for an undertaking that that exercise
will be completely finished and all the U.S. forces out of the
Philippines within six months?
Adm. Blair: I've been wanting to go see the Malaysian forces in the
Sabah region for some time. Unfortunately, on past visits to Malaysia
I just haven't had a chance to get much outside of Kuala Lumpur, so
this is a good chance to see the other half of Malaysia, so it's
fulfilling a longstanding desire to get out and see some of the good
Malaysian troops in the field.
Malaysia has reinforced its forces in the Sabah region, has done so
for the last couple of years, and I look forward to seeing both the
army troops and the naval forces that are doing their job of
protecting that part of Malaysia.
The timing of our exercise and support in the Philippines was set for
an initial period there of six months and I think we'll evaluate it as
we go. On both sides we're committed to getting the job done, but you
do have to take these things a period at a time.
Question: Admiral, Indonesia is not on your itinerary this time.
Adm. Blair: Right.
Question: The last time you were in Singapore, if I'm not mistaken,
you expressed some views about Indonesia being a possible site for
terrorist activity, al Qaeda connected activity, or at least having an
environment that could allow it. There's been a lot of concern about
Indonesia here as kind of the weak link or perceived as the weak link
in Southeast Asia in terms of tackling terrorist situations.
Could you update us with your assessment of how Indonesia fits in now,
or is it fitting in?
Adm. Blair: I think the overall characterization, an impression that I
had a little over a month ago when I visited Indonesia is still
substantially correct. It is a big country with difficulty controlling
its borders from a number of threats to law and order, everything from
piracy to illegal immigration and internal insurgencies. It's on the
backdrop of a country that is going through tremendous economic,
social and certainly military change. So it has a big set of
challenges, and certainly it has to be worried about whether
international terrorism is one more group that might be working from
Indonesia.
Some connections that have come up from some of the arrests here in
Singapore and in Malaysia and in the Philippines point towards some
connections in Indonesia as well, and we've heard the statements from
some Indonesian leaders about the concerns that they have about
international terrorist links to groups that are in Indonesia.
From the point of view of the United States, our military relations
with Indonesia were cut down to a pretty minimal level about two years
ago in conjunction with the East Timor events. But in the meeting
between President Bush and President Megawati, both Presidents
reaffirmed their commitment towards going against international
terrorism. So I think the Indonesian government is committed and we
have to figure out how we can work with them to achieve that. I think
we agree on the goal. We have to figure out what's going to be
effective.
Question: Admiral, John O'Callaghan from Reuters.
There's been reports in the papers this morning that the U.S. is
intending to commit millions of dollars to train Indonesian police.
I was wondering whether you would envisage that extending as far as
has been the case in the Philippines with U.S. military advisors on
the ground in Indonesia to help with the operations.
Adm. Blair: I hadn't heard of that millions of new dollars for police.
I know that the United States and a bunch of other countries have been
for a number of years working with the Indonesian police which were,
as you know, separated from the armed forces a number of years ago.
We are still working out with the Indonesians what the effective way
forward is. We do compare intelligence on international terrorist
groups with them. That is in progress. As far as more, additional
actions, those are still being considered and worked on right now and
they're certainly nothing of the scale of what we're working with in
the Philippines that's planned for the near future.
I think it's fair to say that we are continually reevaluating the
activities that we conduct with Indonesia across the board and with
the Indonesian armed forces in particular. And as I said publicly in
Indonesia, for our part on the military side we're really looking for
continued maturing of the professional development of the TNI
accountability for past actions and proper conduct of their troops
that are involved in counterinsurgency operations right now.
There are some congressional restrictions on what we can do, but more
than simply congressional restrictions, it's our policy that we are
not going to have a full military relationship with the armed forces
of Indonesia until they complete the reforms that they have undertaken
which will bring the standards of conduct and accountability up to
what we expect of advanced armed forces.
The actions against terrorism that are in both of our interests are
clearly things we want to pursue, to protect the citizens of both of
our countries and those of the region. So those are factors that are
constantly being reevaluated in terms of particular actions that we
may take or not take.
Question: If you don't have the cooperation of the TNI, you're never
going to solve the problem.
Adm. Blair: I think you're right, that both strong internal action by
security forces of a country, of Indonesia, and international
cooperation are keys to solving the problem eventually.
Question: When you look, Admiral, at the recent actions of the
Indonesian military and government, for example, it seems to be a bit
of a mixed picture. You have on the one hand the government setting up
the trial mechanism for the East Timor human rights abuse case. On the
other hand in Aceh you appear to have the military moving much more to
try to impose a military rather than a negotiated political solution.
But as you evaluate the situation, and in this context and perhaps
overriding context of importance of counterterrorism, where does it
leave U.S. relations with the Indonesian military as of now?
Adm. Blair: The relations that we have now are in several categories.
We meet at conferences on topics of common interest. There is an
Indonesian representative, Admiral Widoto, for example, at our Chiefs
of Defense Conference in Hawaii this past November. He was a strong
participant in our discussions on combatting terrorism and how we can
and should work together.
We have conducted last year and intend to conduct again this year a
navy-to-navy exercise with the Indonesians centered on some
humanitarian actions in Indonesia.
Question: When was that, sir?
Adm. Blair: That took place last summer, I think it was July or so,
and it will take place early summer this year. It's called the CAROT
exercise -- Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training. It's a
multi-phased exercise of U.S. Navy forces with many different
countries here in Southeast Asia.
Although we have an embargo on some military equipment going to
Indonesia, we do permit the sale and provision of non-lethal
equipment. Spare parts for C-130s, parts for naval vessels and so on.
So we do have that sort of a relationship and are in touch with, and
of course visits to Indonesia. I mentioned myself that I was there
last in November.
We have a relationship with Indonesia and we also currently are
looking for opportunities to take specific action with Indonesia on
actions to combat terrorism which would involve taking down terrorist
groups that would be a danger to both of us. That would be something
in both of our interests.
I think in answer to your question, Mr. Richardson, as you take a step
back from the actions of the TNI and look at it over a couple of year
period since really the low of 1999 when the activities in East Timor
were spread over the international press in detail, and were
reprehensible.
I think there is an overall positive trend. I think that the TNI is by
giving more training to its soldiers, acting more in accordance with
proper rules of engagement. I'd see a generally positive trend. I
think that's a trend that needs to be encouraged and nurtured and
assisted so that it can reach the level in which we can resume the
relations which I think would be in both of our countries' interests.
Question: Given that trend, what have been the actions to, or the
opportunities to combat terrorism that would be in the interests of
both countries that you see?
Adm. Blair: I think one certainly that is going on in a certain form
now are the anti-piracy patrols in the Straits of Malacca, Singapore,
Malaysia, and Indonesia; cooperate on it. The Indonesians themselves
tell me, and I'm sure they would tell you, that they are not able to
devote the resources to the Navy on their side that enables them to be
a fully effective partner in that operation and that would certainly
be a good contribution.
The efforts against illegal immigration in general is somewhat the
same. The Indonesians are not able to assert total control in the
maritime areas whether against pirates or illegal migrants, the way
they would like to be able to.
The situation in Sulawesi is of concern to the Indonesian leaders
themselves. Additional forces were sent there. I think they would tell
you that they're not as far as they would like to be in being able to
control that sectarian violence and control the really lawless forces
that are there including potentially, some outside terrorists there
who are suspected to be part of that operation.
Question: How can the U.S. assist Indonesia in those areas? Is there
anything you can do within the confines of the present legislative --
Adm. Blair: We can offer some modest targeted assistance. As I
mentioned, things like insuring that spare parts are available for the
transport aircraft, which are used to get troops up there. That was
one of the things that I discussed on my last trip, the sharing of
intelligence information and what the outside connections are to
release it are going on there. So there are modest thing we can do
now, but certainly we could all be much more effective if we had a
fuller relationship which we do hope would be available as the
Indonesian armed forces make progress in those areas that I mentioned.
Question: Do you think the changing mood in Washington toward
Indonesia will impact our military relationship?
Adm. Blair: I think that really depends primarily on events in
Indonesia rather than events in Washington.
Question: How would you characterize your relationships with the
various governments in Southeast Asia in terms of intelligence sharing
in particular? Is it comparing night with day, pre and post-September
11th? Or is there much more continuity than from that?
Adm. Blair: It's always difficult to talk in detail about sharing
intelligence and I'm not going to do it. (Laughter)
Question: Not the specifics but the nature of the relationship.
Adm. Blair: Qualitatively speaking the events of September 11th have
given positive jolts to our comparing of information and I would say
it is far more detailed and forthcoming on all sides than it was
before then. All of us recognize that none of us has a complete
picture and the only way that we're going to be able to understand
what this international enemy that we're dealing with is to compare
the piece of intelligence that we have and build a whole picture.
That also goes, by the way, for relationships within governments as
well as between and among them. I know that within our own government
there is much more exchange of information and intelligence among the
various agencies, both those in the national security field and those
like the FBI who have the domestic responsibilities. As I talk to my
counterparts in other countries and here in Southeast Asia, it's no
exception. I find that they are also having better intelligence
cooperation within their governments. So it's within the governments,
it's across the governments, and it's the pulling the pieces together
that will make the difference.
Question: Without going into specifics, what's your perception of al
Qaeda penetration in Southeast Asia? With Malaysia, Indonesia,
Singapore be riddled with al Qaeda connections? Or is it something
which is fairly low key but of concern?
Adm. Blair: Two months ago none of us knew what the KI and KJ were and
now here they are, and one has a concern that you don't know what you
don't know.
The other thing is that it takes so little these days to conduct a
really powerful attack. A few plane tickets, some local sympathizers,
half a million dollars and some determined work from the outside.
That's basically what went into killing 4,000 Americans in Washington
and in New York City. I don't think any of us want to overplay the
threat, but we don't want to think that we know, are completely on top
of it because we've got to continue to drive and to work until we can
really root this thing out.
Also part of it is, I think one dramatic, from my point of view what's
really been different since the events of September has been that
really all of our governments and countries have gone over onto the
offensive rather than just sort of waiting there until the next attack
hits and trying to build a higher fence or a bigger wall and so on. I
think what's making all of our citizens safer is that security forces
and military forces in all our countries are pushing out and taking
actions, making arrests aggressively. Of course the biggest military
campaign has been a coalition effort in Afghanistan, but the effort by
both internal and external security forces has been good.
I think anybody who is a terrorist these days is not sitting there
making his plans in quiet and thinking that he has all the time in the
world. There are security forces and armed forces that are actively
looking to track him down and arrest him or break up what he's doing,
and I think we need to maintain that sort of relentless pursuit of
these groups in order to number one, stay safe in the mean time, and
number two, actually root these groups out.
So I think that's what's important, is that we keep relentlessly
pursuing them.
Question: One final question if I may. As a military man are you
worried that there's sort of a lack of intellectual coherence on in
terms of a war on terrorism? It's about declaring war on what's
essentially a tactic, and you look at various areas of the world, be
it Somalia or be it the Philippines. Stringing all this together, it's
too disparate to grasp.
Adm. Blair: I think that classical military strategists would probably
find it doesn't fit neatly into their former theories. That it's some
blend between traditional military operations and police work and
customs work. Nonetheless, I find that those of us who are charged
with the security of our countries are adapting pretty well and
getting the job done pretty well, applying the tools that we have
across the board.
Question: Your talk with Indonesian military leaders. What is your
first impression? The determination or willingness to solve the
problems that we have been talking about? Do we share this kind of
objective? Are we serious about it or is it?
Adm. Blair: I think that each country has its own set of circumstances
that it's dealing with, but I sense that the leaders that I talk to in
Indonesia are committed to rooting out international terrorism in
their country also.
Question: A quick one, Admiral? Presumably the opening last year of
the new base here and America's use of the facility has been helpful.
Do you need more facilities in Southeast or East Asia than we
currently have? In other words, are you going to be looking for more
seaport type arrangements in other places?
Adm. Blair: As a military commander you can never have enough places
for your airplanes to land and your ships to pull in, so in this area
certainly more is better.
But the relationships and support that we've had so far from the
countries here in the region in terms of overflight and use of
airfields, and use of seaports has been very adequate for the job
we've had to do.
Question: In your introduction, Admiral, you mentioned that you had
reviewed force protection measures with the Singapore authorities. The
U.S. Commissioner of Customs, among others in the United States, has
recently been talking about the need for much tougher surveillance
measures to be imposed in megaports, including Singapore and Hong
Kong, against possible use by terrorists with containers for nefarious
purposes.
Is this something that you have discussed here with the Singapore
authorities? How do you see it playing out?
Adm. Blair: I know this has been a subject of discussion among
authorities here in Singapore. I haven't had an update on that
recently so I'm not really, I can't really give you anything specific
on that, Michael, but it is something which we have to ensure that the
efficient flow of commerce takes place or it's not being used against
us. There's a role of technology and a role of cooperation and we need
to pursue that.
Question: You mentioned early about US - Singapore joint R&D projects
going on? Can you give us some more information?
Adm. Blair: The ones that are most exciting with Singapore are in the
use of information technology in coalition operations. The traditional
way of doing a coalition operation is to send a liaison officer with a
radio over to your coalition partner. We can do much better than that
in an era in which our kids can send e-mails back and forth to each
other and Singapore is really a very information, technology savvy
country and has been a really strong partner in figuring out how we
can solve problems of security of information and compatibility of
equipment where we can put together coalitions that will operate in
common missions, whether they be combatting piracy or peacekeeping
operations or humanitarian assistance. So it's that sort of area that
we're really cooperating with Singapore and we have Singapore officers
in our headquarters, we're out on experimental exercises together.
Great. It's good to get a chance to talk to all of you. I hope to see
you on the next trip. Thanks.
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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