President Bush Six Hour Visit to Indonesia

Nov 22nd 2006

Weeks before the expected visit of President Bush to Indonesia, slated for 20 November 2006, the controversy was started in the media.

It all began when security personnel decided to construct a helipad on the lawns of the Bogor Botanical Gardens, lying adjacent to the Bogor Palace, where the meeting between President Bush and President Yudhoyono was to take place. The helipad was to be used exclusively for the visit, only to be taken apart afterwards. Days later, Bogor residents were told that the main road surrounding the Palace and the Gardens would be closed to all traffic for 24 hours on the day of the visit of the US President, while the popular Bogor Gardens would be closed during the weekend prior to the Monday visit.  The nearby bus station would also be closed, as would be the toll road at the Bogor entrance from Jakarta. Similarly closed on the day would be schools, offices, banks, even a hospital that line this road. Patients and emergency cases that needed immediate attention would be fetched by the hospital’s special ambulance. Meanwhile, the nearby Salak Hotel was block booked for weeks for US personnel. Moreover, during the visit, cell phone signals around Bogor would be scrambled. 
Bogor was once a sleepy hill station situated some 60 km. south of Jakarta at the foot of Mount Gede, where former Dutch Governor Generals used to find their retreat, including British Governor General Sir Stamford Raffles.  Now, however, except for the sprawling estate of the Bogor Palace and the Botanical Gardens, the town has grown into a busy city and center of learning, location of a number of universities. The town is also on the main road between Jakarta and the city of Bandung.  The density of Bogor’s population and their to-be- disturbed activities was one of the main reasons why there followed so many protests. This situation was different when President Bush visited Bali in 2003, when the meeting site at Kuta beach was a tourist resort, and relatively sparsely populated. 

Meanwhile, the media reported daily each stage in the construction of the helipad, in addition to showing workers near the helipad strutting ancient rare trees with bamboo poles for their protection. And, during rehearsals when one helicopter was landing, giant lotus leaves in the nearby pond were blown over, forcing workers to cut these to avoid further damage to the rare plants. Would the helipad harm the natural environment of the Gardens? Then, to everyone’s surprise, an alternative helipad site was chosen for the Bush party to land, namely in the middle of the Bogor Stadium. It was here where the helicopter of President George Bush, Laura Bush and Secretary Condolleeza Rice finally landed in the streaming rain – making the helipad at the botanical gardens redundant.   
 
Indonesians were agog when it was announced that the 6-hour visit by the US President would entail an expenditure of Rp. 6 billion, - which to a number of districts, was equal to their total annual budget. This, most people thought really went over the top.
 
And then the demonstrations started, mostly organized by Indonesia’s hard line Muslim civil societies, such as the FPI, Hizbut Tahir and FBR, and later joined by the Muslim political party, PKS. They demanded that Indonesia reject the visit of President Bush on account of his military invasion of Middle East countries. Once demonstrations started in Jakarta and Bogor, these soon spread to many large and small cities on Java and Sulawesi. There were a few pro-US President’s visit, but these were rare.

Political leaders, and President Yudhoyono, nonetheless, allowed these protests to continue for as long as they remained peaceful. Any violence would be strongly handled by the Police. 

The Indonesian Military and Police, meanwhile, went about their preparations undisturbed, and days before the visit of President Bush, they announced that all was ready and in place security-wise for the US leader’s visit. The media disclosed that more than 1,200 military and Police personnel were sent to Bogor for reinforcement.

On Monday afternoon at 4.34 pm, Air Force One landed at the Halim Perdanakusumah military airport, some 20 minutes earlier than scheduled. Here helicopters were ready to fly the US President and entourage to Bogor. President and Mme. Yudhoyono, and members of the Cabinet, as well as the press corps, were already waiting in the Palace.  Jumping down from the car, President Bush shook hands with his hosts, followed by Mrs. Laura Bush.
After President and Mrs. Bush signed the guestbook, both were led separate ways.
President Bush went for meetings with the Indonesian Cabinet and community leaders, and Mrs. Laura Bush to see an exhibition of Indonesian cloths of hand-woven gold and silver sarongs from West Sumatra, batik craft from Java, and silver jewelry from Yogyakarta. They then moved to the next wing, where two school rooms, replicas of the original were set up in the palace, an example of schools subsidized by USAID. Later they were joined here by President Bush and President Yudhoyono, who came in after delivering a Press Conference.  President Bush was seen chatting with an 8-year old school girl, looking quite relaxed. 

Then it was off to a state dinner, all within the Bogor Palace ground, and before long, it was time to say goodbye.  The Meeting with President Yudhoyono and his cabinet appeared very amiable, although outside the palace, raucous demonstrators were still chanting slogans – but none of these could be seen or heard from the palace. Media Indonesia, in its editorial the next day called it: “Warm and Friendly within the Palace, Tension in the Streets”.

In their Press Conference, attended by Indonesian and US media, Presiden Yudhoyono explained that the meeting with President Bush was aimed to increase friendly relations and cooperation between Indonesia and the United States. The two leaders had discussed cooperation in the area of health, in particular the prevention of an avian influenza pandemic and other communicable diseases. They also discussed education, partnership in developing bio-fuel as alternative energy, and in the setting up of early warning system and expertise in natural disasters. Yudhoyono also thanked the U.S. for helping Indonesia in investment and trade, health, education and technology, and noted that the two countries had strengthened their military ties.
On his side, President Bush promised to help Indonesia combat bird flu and offered the country technology for alternative energy. Bush said the United States' commitment to Indonesia saw it give the country US$55 million for its Millennium Challenge Program to help the government fight graft, and develop "pro-job" and "pro-poor" economic strategies.
He further praised President Yudhoyono for his economic reforms and fight against corruption, saying the U.S. was committed to helping Indonesia to become more democratic and fight terrorism.
"Indonesia is an example of how democracy and modernization can provide alternatives to extremism," he said.  "I believe the vast majority of people want to live in moderation and not have extremists kill innocent people," Bush said.
Asked by the press what he thought of the demonstrations against his visit to Indonesia, President Bush calmly replied that he was not bothered by protests against him. "It's to Indonesia's credit that it's a society where people are able to protest and say what they think," Bush said. "It's not the first time, by the way, where people have showed up and expressed their opinion about my policies. But that's what happens when you make hard decisions." "I applaud a country where people can express their opinions". The protests were signs of a "healthy democratic society," he said.
Answering to questions from the press, who were more interested in the Bush policy in the Middle East, in particular whether the US would soon pull out its troops from Iraq, President Bush defended his Iraq policy and didn't rule out sending more U.S. troops to join the approximately 140,000 currently in Iraq.
"I haven't made any decisions about troop increases or troop decreases, and won't until I hear from a variety of sources, including our own United States military," he said. He said he hopes to get recommendations from the Pentagon "as quickly as possible."
President Yudhoyono on his side commented that a "triple-track" solution would be needed before the U.S. should decide on a withdrawal of its troops from Iraq, which was also one of the main issues raised by protesters here. The three conditions were: firstly, there was a need for national reconciliation in Iraq and the empowerment of the Iraqi government. Secondly, other countries should be called in securing the country, and thirdly, there should be international cooperation to assist Iraq in its reconstruction and rehabilitation, President Yudhoyono proposed.
Yudhoyono did not specify what other countries should be brought in to help, but emphasized that "the global community must also be responsible in solving the problems in Iraq," while he mentioned that the U.S. should work toward "a proper timetable" for "the disengagement of U.S. troops in Iraq. These three solutions must be decided before the US pulls out of Iraq, Yudhoyono said.
During his discussions with President Bush it was agreed to seek realistic solutions to resolve the Iraq conflict which should involve other countries, as the Iraq issue is not solely the problem of the United States. “Indonesia believes that we can cooperate and exchange ideas on how to find the best long term solutions for Iraq” said Yudhoyono.
Days after President Bush and entourage returned to America, most Indonesians are just relieved that no incident or violence occurred during the visit to Indonesia, while Bogor residents are happy that their city has remained peaceful, and all is now back to normal. 

By Tuti Sunario