The answer is that the United States has grown increasingly worried that Southeast Asia is a refuge for terrorists. Last week Malaysia arrested 14 suspected members of a militant group linked to Al Qaeda. Other suspected Islamic radicals have been nabbed in Singapore and the Philippines. Indonesia is not a major trouble spot yet–but with the world’s largest Muslim population, porous borders, several radical Islamic groups and a streak of anti-Americanism, it has the potential to become one. So Washington is taking small steps to re-establish security relations with the Indonesian military. It’s a sensitive issue because Washington must balance its strong desire to see Jakarta reform its armed forces (chiefly by putting them under civilian command) with the new need for Indonesia to take a tougher stance against radical groups within its borders. Any sign that Washington is starting to cozy up to the TNI is likely to draw criticism from proponents of reform–in both Indonesia and the United States. “It would symbolically and psychologically boost the TNI, and be a bad sign for democratic reforms,” says Kusmanto Anggoro, a defense analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Jakarta-based think tank.

The United States has no plans to send troops or military advisers to Indonesia. A Pentagon spokesman says that Brookes will “certainly” discuss counterterrorism activities with Indonesian officials, “but it’s not the main focus [of the meeting]. It’s not a planning session for military-to-military contacts.” U.S. congressional concerns about the TNI, and Indonesia’s sensitivity to American pushiness, make overt cooperation a nonstarter. “There would be serious blowback on the streets [if that happened],” says David L. Phillips of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. “I don’t think it’s desirable to have an American presence on the ground, not even training. What’s desirable is to have Indonesia’s security apparatus function effectively and abide by constitutional limits that are imposed on it.”

That’s precisely the thinking of the U.S. government. Paul Wolfowitz, deputy Defense secretary, has described the terrorist threat in Indonesia as a “law-enforcement challenge,” not a military matter. Problem is, Indonesia’s National Police has serious organizational, operational and financial shortcomings, and has traditionally played a subordinate role to the armed forces when it came to internal security. The United States very much wants to change that–and aims to boost aid to Indonesia for police training under its International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP). The first phase of the project kicked off in September 2000, months after a presidential decree formally separated the country’s 240,000-man police force from the politically powerful TNI. Phase two, announced by George W. Bush, is a $10 million aid package, which must still be approved by Congress. According to Western diplomats, Washington is also talking with the National Police about establishing a separate counterterrorism budget.

The $10 million budget will not be used for counterterrorism training, however. The Indonesian police must first buy lots of equipment and learn the basics of community policing. “In order for us to assist the Indonesian police with counterterrorism and for them to have a sustainable capability, there needs to be a basic foundation on which to build,” says Steven Hargrove, who is running ICITAP in Jakarta. “That’s what I’m working on.” Adds Anggoro: “The Indonesian National Police is very weak in many areas, especially in intelligence gathering and analysis. Actually, there is no capacity for intelligence gathering, because the military monopolized the resources in this area.”

Until the National Police can shoulder the internal-security load, the United States may have no choice but to mingle delicately with the generals. Phillips, of the Council on Foreign Relations, points out that catching terrorists and reforming the military are not mutually exclusive. One must happen in tandem with the other. Washington is encouraged that President Megawati Sukarnoputri’s government has established tribunals for trying officers accused of committing atrocities in East Timor. If Jakarta follows through with those prosecutions, sends people to jail and then moves up the chain of command, relations between the two countries could improve substantially. And that would leave Washington feeling a lot more secure in Asia.