Yak saudara-saudara, Australia meningkatkan anggaran militernya dengan
alasan lingkungannya tidak stabil. Mestinya harus dicari pihak mana yang
menyebabkan ketidakstabilan itu muncul. Bukannya dari selatan?
Langkah Mahfud untuk imbal beli pesawat dengan Korsel sangat tepat. Kalaupun
kita punya uang, sistem imbal beli juga bukan hal yang memalukan. Asal nggak
ditukar dengan beras ketan yang sudah ketahuan bukan kebutuhan pokok saja.
Proses imbal beli ini sangat tepat pula untuk membungkam pendapat yang
menyatakan IPTN adalah penghamburan uang. Oknum-oknum yang biasanya orang
yang kurang makan sekolahan dan orang yang bukan berasal dari latar belakang
teknik ini harus memakan pil pahit, dan mereka harus mencari alasan lain
mengapa pangan tetap susah.
Provokasi yang murahan dengan membom gereja-gereja sangat kentara, dan
dengan mudah masyarakat tidak akan membeli. Hanya saja barisan orang NU yang
cuma memikirkan kepentingan kelompoknya harus mengambil jarak dengan masalah
ini, dan tidak hanya sekadar berteriak pasti ingin menggoyang pemerintahan
Gus Dur. Kenapa sih mereka nggak menengok pengalaman Ambon yang dulu
masjidnya diserbu di malam lebaran? Apakah mereka ingin pemerintahan Gus Dur
ambruk? Gimana bisa ambruk wong mereka belum ada.
Sudah seharusnya mereka menengok pihak-pihak yang ingin Indonesia pecah,
termasuk gerombolan separatis beserta dukungan dana dan intelektual luar
negeri seperti RMS, GAM, dan OPM.
Anjasmara
-------------------------------
SYDNEY, Australia � Australia has embarked on an ambitious program to
enhance its overseas deployment capabilities and expand its strategic role
in the Asia-Pacific region, including a major increase in defense spending.
The government this month released a defense "white paper," or
comprehensive policy statement, outlining an increase in military spending
from the current annual level of $6.5 billion to $8.7 billion by the
decade's end.
The cumulative increase of $12.6 billion in the military budget over 10
years is a landmark change in Australian strategic planning. The country's
military spending has been declining in real terms since the end of the Cold
War and now stands at only 1.8 percent of national gross domestic product,
the lowest level since the end of World War II.
The white paper argues that a stronger military is necessary for
Australia to cope with the increased potential for instability among its
neighbors.
It notes that "the countries of our immediate neighborhood � Indonesia,
East Timor, Papua New Guinea, and the island states of the southwest Pacific
� face large economic and structural challenges."
Australia sent troops last year to East Timor as part of a U.N.
peacekeeping force intended to quell rioting by Jakarta-backed militias
after the territory voted in a referendum to separate from Indonesia. The
mission was Australia's most significant military commitment in recent
years.
As the white paper put it: "Our armed forces have been busier over the
last decade, and especially over the past two years, than at any time since
our involvement in Vietnam."
Since then, there has been further turmoil among Australia's neighbors.
Indonesia, still recovering from the loss of East Timor, has been
stunned once again by an independence movement � this time in the province
of Irian Jaya. In May, a coup in Fiji deposed the democratically elected
government and plunged that island nation into a protracted crisis.
The new defense spending aims to strengthen Australia's ability to
respond effectively to overseas flash points such as East Timor.
"Australia . . . cannot be secure in an insecure region, and as a
middle-size power there is much we can and should do to help to keep our
region secure, and support global stability," the white paper says.
To expand its strike capability, the air force will receive four new
Boeing airborne early warning and control aircraft, with an option on
another three. In the long term, the government envisages buying up to 100
new aircraft to replace the present combat fleet of F-111 bombers and F/A-18
fighters.
The navy will get at least three new destroyers to replace old
frigates, in addition to new amphibious ships, patrol boats, Harpoon
anti-ship missiles, and supply ships. The army will receive equipment
upgrades and will be expanded to 54,000 troops by the decade's end � an
increase of 3,500 over present numbers.
Underpinning the new defense system will be a major investment in
intelligence-gathering equipment such as spy planes and radar systems.
The tone of the white paper is more strident than previous
pronouncements from the government and signals a desire for greater
self-reliance in the determination of Australia's military needs.
"We believe that if Australia were attacked, the United States would
provide substantial help, including armed force. We would seek and welcome
such help. But we will not depend on it."
Australia's military expansion acquires greater significance when
viewed in the context of a general decrease in military spending among many
of its neighbors, which are still recovering from the Asian financial crisis
of 1997-98. Defense budgets in countries such as South Korea and Japan have
decreased in real terms in recent years.
Australia's new spending plans could also provide an opportunity for
major international defense suppliers.
Sikorsky, the helicopter manufacturer, is expected to receive a
contract for the supply for 12 Black Hawk helicopters to the Navy. Lockheed
Martin and Bofors are among the suppliers expected to compete for a new
portable "bunker-buster" missile that the army will receive.
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