Is Indonesia right to put a limit on military aid?

[Natalia]

Much has been made in the Australian media of Indonesia supposedly (not yet officially confirmed) putting a three month limit on the amount of time they will let foreign troops stay in Sumatra as part of the aid effort. Do you think this is warranted?
The 'common' (tabloid watching, politically unaware) attitude here seems to be this is a sign of ungratefulness. To quote my father (someone i don't agree with, but i think he is representative of the group i just mentioned) "F***ing Indonesians, we offer aid we don't have to give, not even in our interest to give and the ungrateful b******s want to take it and chuck us out." (I will admit he does not really have a grasp of regional political subtleties )
Personally, i would be happy to see the troops out in three months - my better half is over there at the moment, and i would be happy to see him back in shortest time possible. That said, i think that a lot of Australians forget that Indonesia is a soveriegn country, and if the shoe was on the other foot, we might want Indonesia troops out of our country in under three months, even if they were providing aid.

[Ray]

Beleive it or not.

They are afraid of Christian evangelist organisation turning the country Christians through succour and aid. In fact, there are reports of the same

Religion’s dark side
MARIANNE KEARNEY

Darussalam (Aceh), Jan. 14: Dozens of Muslim and Christian groups are exploiting the chaos wrought by the tsunami in the Indonesian province of Aceh to spread their message and compete for influence, secular aid workers said yesterday.

Many religious charities are offering purely humanitarian aid and have policies against proselytising but some have made blatant attempts to win hearts and minds.

An American missionary organisation has claimed to have flown out large numbers of orphans to be looked after and educated in Jakarta. More than 110,000 people have died in Indonesia and hundreds of thousands are without adequate food, shelter and medicine.

The Virginia-based group WorldHelp said on its website in an appeal for funds that it had airlifted 300 “tsunami orphans” to Jakarta, to be raised in a Christian centre. “If we can place them in a Christian children’s home, their faith in Christ could become the foothold to reach the Aceh people,” it said.

The appeal said WorldHelp was working with Indonesian-born Christians who want to “plant Christian principles as early as possible”, reported The Washington Post.

After WorldHelp was contacted by the newspaper, it removed the appeal. Aid workers in Aceh said they had not heard of the organisation or the removal of large numbers of children.

At a relief camp in the grounds of the mosque in Darussalam, five miles outside Banda Aceh, the provincial capital, a volunteer from a conservative Muslim boarding school claimed that an Islamic political party had removed 20 orphans to Jakarta.

Downstairs four foreigners in Church of Scientology T-shirts, said to be Americans, were offering massage to refugees lounging on rattan mats. The church has set up an office in Banda Aceh.

The Scientologists are unlikely to make many inroads among the devoutly Muslim population, but they could easily provoke clashes and a subsequent crackdown on humanitarian groups, international aid organisations fear. “You take traumatised people and do counselling for them, this is very dangerous,” said one aid worker.

Christine Knudsen, a child protection officer with Save the Children, said the radical Islamic groups that have moved in from Java were at odds with Acehnese tradition. Devout but tolerant, the Acehnese Muslims have turned away hardliners in the past.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

I think it was on the CNN where the Islamists have claimed that the US and Israeli blasted a nuke on the seabed so that the tsunami took place so that the US military would come in and then refuse to go back and take over the island!

The Indonesian govt has to be sensitive since there is an insurgency in Aceh and the Islamists allied to AQ are flexing their muscle elsewhere. A false step and the govt will be up a gum tree and all the good they ahve done so far to kcik the AQ affiliates will come to nought.

[troung]

"Much has been made in the Australian media of Indonesia supposedly (not yet officially confirmed) putting a three month limit on the amount of time they will let foreign troops stay in Sumatra as part of the aid effort. Do you think this is warranted?"

Well the GAM was also on the ropes before this happened so not like they want to give it another chance to rebuild.

[tarek]

If there were no oil in Aceh, there wud be no seperatist movement either - but in any case, Why is that foreign troops have to deliver material aid, it is afterall the Indonesian govt that is in charge in Indonesia - right?

[Natalia]

If there were no oil in Aceh, there wud be no seperatist movement either - but in any case, Why is that foreign troops have to deliver material aid, it is afterall the Indonesian govt that is in charge in Indonesia - right?

Because Indonesia can't, in short.

[lemontree]

The guy in the second picture (with the shiny helmet), he is wearing the helmet the otherway around.
Indonasia is justified in asking for the 3 month limit.

[Ray]

At the risk of being parochial, the miitary are the best organised to delvier aid or contain any disaster. They ahve the organisation, discipline and the eqpt.

I find nothing wrong in the US giving assitance to any country requiring help.

While most are critical of the US most of the time, one should also have the goodness to appreciate the good humanitarian work done by the US.