Indonesia says a military force from predominantly Muslim countries should be deployed in Iraq before the United States withdraws. The recommendation is part of a larger proposal to resolve the conflict in the war-torn country. Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said like-minded moderate Islamic countries acceptable to the Iraqis should contribute to the "intervening force", whose deployment should not be seen as an extension of the U.S.-led coalition troops or Iraqi security forces. "This force would not be perceived as enemies by the Iraqis because we're going in there as brothers who are there to help," he said in an interview here Wednesday. The force's capacity should not be measured by its firepower, he added.
One certainly never measures a UN-sponsored force that way.
Hassan was elaborating on the Indonesian proposal for a political framework to solve the Iraq problem, a concept which first became public during the visit of U.S. President George W. Bush to Bogor last month. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono referred to it at the joint press conference with Bush afterwards as the "triple track" proposal. The other two "tracks" are a national reconciliation forum that must ultimately lead to an international conference, and a massive economic rehabilitation and reconstruction program.
The proposal took many people here by surprise, since there had been no prior public discussion about Indonesia getting involved in the conflict. Some politicians and foreign policy experts question whether Indonesia is capable of tackling this very complicated war, and others fear the move would shift the burden of Iraq from Washington to Indonesia. Hassan defended the proposal as Indonesia's contribution to the search for a solution that would restore Iraq's sovereignty, peace and stability. "We're friends to the Iraqis, and we're a friend of the United States too, and of all the parties directly involved in the conflict," he said. "There has to be something that we can contribute."
When asked who had come up with the idea and developed it, he replied: "The president and the foreign minister together".
The concept was first broached when Hassan met with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum meeting in Hanoi in November. The two were then preparing the agenda for the Bush-Yudhoyono talks in Bogor. "We ended up spending the entire 45 minutes going over the concept," he said. "Rice then suggested that this matter be brought to the attention of the leaders when they met in Bogor." The Indonesian proposal was discussed during a Bogor meeting involving the presidents and foreign ministers.
The Indonesian public would be brought up to speed in due course, he said, adding that currently Indonesia is pursuing the matter through quiet diplomacy, approaching relevant countries one at a time. "Diplomacy has its limitations. You can't disclose everything to the public until after you talk to everyone concerned."
The minister said the international response to the Indonesian proposal so far has been encouraging. "It's better than expected," Hassan said.