13 May 2002
Rumsfeld Briefs on U.S.-Indonesia Ties, Pakistan
(Press availability with Indonesian defense minister May 13) (1740)
The Bush administration is working closely with Congress to find ways
to reestablish military-to-military relationships with Indonesia,
according to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
In a joint press availability with Indonesian Defense Minister Matori
Abdul Dajalil at the Pentagon May 13, Rumsfeld stressed that Indonesia
is a very important country for the United States.
Rumsfeld called Indonesia "a moderate Muslim state" and said that it
is "addressing the human rights issues [that led to restrictions on
U.S.-Indonesia military ties] in an orderly, democratic way."
In response to a question on Pakistan and its support for the war
against international terrorism, Rumsfeld told reporters that the
United States has been "very pleased with the cooperation that
President Musharraf has provided the United States with respect to the
war on terrorism in many, many facets and respects, almost from day
one."
Rumsfeld noted that Pakistan has "tribal areas" that it has "respected
historically at the federal level" and said the Pakistan government is
currently working on ways to "deal with the tribal organizations so
that, in fact, the al Qaeda or Taliban can be routed out."
Following is a transcript of the news briefing from the Department of
Defense:
(begin transcript)
U.S. Department of Defense News Briefing
Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld
Monday, May 13, 2002 - 11:30 p.m. EDT
(Media availability with Indonesian Minister of Defense Matori Abdul
Dajalil)
Rumsfeld: Good morning. The minister of defense of Indonesia has been
in the country. We just had a very good discussion about the problem
of terrorism in the world and the work that Indonesia is doing in its
country to deal with the problem.
We also had a good discussion about the relationship between our two
countries. The president and the secretary of State and I have all
been interested in finding ways to work with the Congress to
reestablish the kind of military-to-military relationships, which we
believe, are appropriate. We are hopeful that we will be able to find
support in the Congress to move in the correct direction. Last month,
the United States and Indonesia had some security cooperative talks,
which were useful and helpful.
So I'm happy to welcome the minister and turn the microphone over to
him and let him make a few remarks, and then we'd be happy to respond
to questions.
(Note: The minister's remarks are through interpreter.)
Matori: Good morning, members of the press. As Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld has said, that I am here to explain and -- develop relations
between Indonesia and the United States, and to explain about events
in Indonesia.
Indonesia and the United States have a common platform, especially on
issues such as democracy, and also on issues such as terrorism.
I gave some explanations to the secretary about the reforms that have
been undertaken by the Indonesian government, and to highlight the
fact that the principle of civilian supremacy over the military is in
place in Indonesia now. And these commitments are not just on the part
of the government, but also on the part of the Indonesian military.
And as a matter of fact, we are now preparing a series of laws to
strengthen military reform in Indonesia.
I also touched on the issue of accountability on human rights
violations, especially in East Timor, and I explained to the secretary
that an ad hoc tribunal is now in place in Indonesia where trials are
being held against those who perpetrated human rights violations in
East Timor in 1999. As a democracy, like in the United States, the
government cannot interfere in the legal proceedings, but the
government continues to encourage the court to have a fair trial.
I also reaffirm our commitment in the fight against terrorism, which
was promised by President Megawati Sukarnoputri when she visited
Washington last year. And in order to have a strong legal foundation
for our measures, we are preparing a draft law on antiterrorism, which
will be submitted, to the Indonesian Parliament.
I also touched on many other issues, such as the issue of Aceh, where
I stressed the commitment of the government to have a dialogue to
settle the conflict.
I will proceed to answer your questions, but I would like to reiterate
that I hope that my visit here will contribute to strengthening
Indonesia-U.S. relations, and especially towards the normalization of
military-to-military relations between the two countries.
Thank you very much.
Rumsfeld: Thank you, sir.
We'll be happy to respond to some questions. Yes?
Q: Secretary Rumsfeld, this is on the agreement with Russia on the
nuclear weapons cuts. What is the number of weapons that the United
States will be permitted to store rather than dismantle? And because
storing has been allowed in this new agreement, in what sense is this
really a cut in nuclear?
Rumsfeld: Well, I'll be very brief. The deep reductions, which are
described in the treaty, take both sides down to in the neighborhood
of 1,700 to 2,200. The treaty does not address the numbers of warheads
that conceivably would be appropriate for either side for replacement
warheads, to deal with technical issues that conceivably could occur.
And that is the treaty does not address that, as it should not be, in
my view. And I'm sure that when the treaty is released -- I don't know
if it has been yet -- that will be clear.
Do we have a question for the minister?
Q: Yes, I do.
Rumsfeld: Good.
Q: Mr. Minister, can you tell us, sir, in which form did you ask the
secretary of -- Secretary Rumsfeld to fight terrorism in Indonesia?
And also, comments on President Clinton's trip to East Timor.
Matori: As I told you earlier, we are determined to bring -- to build
a professional military in Indonesia. Our military-to-military
relations still suffer from the military embargo towards Indonesia,
and I am here to rectify that situation. This is why I'm here, to try
to present a case to normalize military-to-military relations between
our two countries, and I'm glad that the U.S. administration is
undertaking discussions with the U.S. Congress to try to deal with
this situation.
Q: If I may follow, sir, I mean did you invite, sir, the U.S. military
in Indonesia to fight terrorism?
Matori: The answer is no, because that is not our foreign policy and
we remain confident in the ability of our national police and the
military to deal with these efforts.
Rumsfeld: I would add only that the steps that the Indonesian
government has taken, and that the minister has been discussing here,
we are hopeful will be helpful with the United States Congress, given
the fact that it was human rights violations, of course, that led to
the restrictions. And we are of the view that it's time for them to
adjust it substantially.
Q: Mr. Secretary, you still have -- the House Appropriations Committee
last week dealt you somewhat of a blow when it rejected two of the
proposals to give Indonesia aid, citing a lack of perceived progress
in fixing the abuses that happened three years ago -- for example, no
Indonesian military officer's been convicted of any crime or
reprimand. What's your strongest argument to the Hill you'll be making
in the next week or two to show progress?
Rumsfeld: Well, the argument that will be made to the Hill is that
Indonesia is an important country. It is a large country. It is a
moderate Muslim state -- that they are addressing the human rights
issues in an orderly, democratic way and that the way the legal system
works is not something, as the minister indicated, that governments
intervene in.
Q: Mr. Secretary, do you believe there needs to be more cooperation
from the Pakistani government in pursuit of al Qaeda and Taliban in
western Pakistan? And why hasn't the Pakistani military been more
aggressive in the pursuit of Taliban and al Qaeda?
Rumsfeld: Well, as I have said repeatedly here, we have been very
pleased with the cooperation that President Musharraf has provided the
United States with respect to the war on terrorism in many, many
facets and respects, almost from day one. The question as to why they
don't do additional things is, I think, self-evident -- the answer is
self-evident. They're a sovereign nation. They have tribal areas that
they have respected historically at the federal level. They are
currently working out ways that they can deal with the tribal
organizations so that, in fact, the al Qaeda or Taliban can be routed
out.
Our interaction is continuous, it is iterative, and it has been
constructive and helpful.
Q: Are there huge pockets of Taliban and al Qaeda just across the
border in Pakistan?
Rumsfeld: I don't doubt for a minute that there are pockets of Taliban
and al Qaeda across most of the borders of Afghanistan.
Q: Mr. Secretary, Operation Snipe has ended. Could you summarize the
significance of that? And also, what does that mean for the continuing
U.S. military effort?
Rumsfeld: Operation Snipe was one additional sweep that took place.
There are others that are going on and will be going on prospectively.
And it was helpful. We appreciate the work that the coalition did. And
we -- I think it can be said that non-trivial caches of weapons have
been discovered in recent days. And in addition, yesterday there were
some al Qaeda or Taliban taken prisoner -- taken -- they were
captured, as well as a number of caches of weapons.
So the progress is continuing. It is not something that's going to
end. It is going to have to keep on if we're going to be successful.
Q: Mr. Secretary --
Rumsfeld: I think we've -- we'll make this the last question.
Q: The Washington Times today reported that there is intelligence that
there will be an attack on nuclear power plants in the United States
on July 4th. How much credibility do you place in this, or is it from
a less reliable source?
Rumsfeld: I don't discuss intelligence to confirm it or to deny it,
either one.
Thank you very much, folks.
Mr. Minister, thank you.
(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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