Indonesia Refused U.S. Request in Fight Against ISIS

By Jeralyn, Section War In Iraq
Posted on Wed Jul 01, 2015 at 10:20:00 AM EST
Tags: ISIS, Indonesia (all tags)

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Indonesia's former foreign minister says the U.S. asked Indonesia to send ground troops to Iraq to fight ISIS, and it refused: It didn't want to upset "radical Muslims" at home.

Indonesia was asked by the United States to send troops to join the fight against the Islamic State terror group in Iraq but declined because it feared a backlash among radical Muslims at home, the country's former foreign minister has revealed. Marty Natalegawa, the long-serving top envoy under Jakarta's previous administration, said Indonesia felt it could better contribute by tackling its own domestic extremism problem, whereas sending forces would be "cosmetic".

Maybe the next time it gets hit by a massive Tsunami, our response should be "We can better use that money at home."

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Indonesia Refused U.S. Request in Fight Against ISIS | 15 comments (15 topical)

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I think we need to be humanists (5.00 / 2) (#8)
by Militarytracy on Wed Jul 01, 2015 at 04:30:59 PM EST

I'm fine helping them in a natural disaster. They need not send combat troops to fight ISIS in order for me to help their people when stricken by natural disaster.

Iraqi constitution says . . . (5.00 / 1) (#11)
by zaitztheunconvicted on Thu Jul 02, 2015 at 12:54:07 AM EST

Article 2:

First: Islam is the official religion of the State and it is a fundamental source of legislation:

A. No law that contradicts the established provisions of Islam may be established.

: whereas... (5.00 / 1) (#12)
by thomas rogan on Thu Jul 02, 2015 at 07:43:34 AM EST

We invaded Japan and wrote their constitution. We invaded Iraq/Saddam Hussein and they wrote this mess. No wonder Iraq didn't work out.

That's a little harsh J... (4.00 / 2) (#2)
by kdog on Wed Jul 01, 2015 at 01:50:43 PM EST

humanitarian aid is it's own reward...better to follow Indonesia's lead and bring everybody home from Iraq.

The "you break it, you buy it" thing can't continue indefinitely. I'd give every Iraqi man, woman, and child 10 grand in illegal war reparations and call it a day as far as the USA is concerned. Not enough, but nothing could ever be enough for how we f8cked that country.

Just following Obama's lead (none / 0) (#1)
by Abdul Abulbul Amir on Wed Jul 01, 2015 at 01:39:34 PM EST

Obama won't send ground troops to fight ISIS, trainers only. It is a tad bit optimistic to expect other states with no apparent direct interest to send combat troops when Obama won't either.

The (5.00 / 2) (#4)
by FlJoe on Wed Jul 01, 2015 at 04:20:53 PM EST

Muslim countries are terrified of there own inner demons. We can not exorcise them, they must do it themselves.They are indeed an existential threat to any Muslim nation that wants to remain in the current century, to us they are really just another troublesome problem in a troubling world.

Sure we could take care of ISIS, but it would probably entail some serious urban combat and all the friendly casualties and collateral damage that would ensue. We would be fighting on behalf of Iran's closet ally possibly alongside the dreaded Shia militia, who still have the blood of Americans on their hands.
We can destroy ISIS as an entity, at a great cost. We can raze that particular branch of evil
to the ground but we can not pull out the roots.
Meanwhile the cowering leaders of the Muslim countries are off the hook , focusing the hate of their homegrown crazies on us, at least for a while.

If confronting the demons of the Muslim world on behalf of the "moderates" is going to be our policy, it's going to be a long bloody century for us. With little apparent upside for us.


Silly rabbit (none / 0) (#5)
by Militarytracy on Wed Jul 01, 2015 at 04:24:42 PM EST

Who said that? (none / 0) (#13)
by Yman on Thu Jul 02, 2015 at 07:51:58 AM EST

Who said they were asked to contribute "combat" troops? The article sure didn't.


Common usage (5.00 / 1) (#14)
by Abdul Abulbul Amir on Thu Jul 02, 2015 at 11:37:15 AM EST

Indonesia was asked by the United States to send troops to join the fight against the Islamic State terror group in Iraq but declined because it feared a backlash among radical Muslims at home, the country's former foreign minister has revealed.

Troops that fight or expected to fight are normally referred to as "combat troops."


: Selective usage (3.00 / 2) (#15)
by Yman on Thu Jul 02, 2015 at 09:52:26 PM EST

"Joining the fight" doors not necessarily mean as combat troops. Our soldiers there right now have "jointed the fight" as trainers and advisers, and there are many support roles that soldiers can take to "join the fight" without being combat troops. In fact, if you read the article, it points out that's what Dr. Natalegawa appeared to be discussing (training and advisory troops).
But I'm sure you'll be first in line to sign up for the fight against ISIS. Finally a use for all that target shooting ... :)

I can't say I blame the Indonesians (none / 0) (#3)
by scribe on Wed Jul 01, 2015 at 04:18:34 PM EST

IIRC, they are the largest (or one of the largest) Muslim countries by population. In any population there is sure to be some small population of crazies out near one fringe or another. The larger the population, the more crazies.

Not giving the crazies a pretext to go from talk to action seems a prudent exercise of statecraft. Recall, bin Laden's original beef - root cause of al Qaeda - was the presence of US troops in Saudi during the first Gulf War. Violated his interpretation of Islam to have infidels (women infidels, at that) on the soil of the country charged with guarding the holy sites of Mecca and Medina. And it all rolled downhill from there. (Thank you, Bush I, Cheney, Powell, et als.)

How would you like the Straits of Malacca - through which flows all of the oil for Japan and most if not all of that for China -- controlled by or subject to interdiction by a bunch of knuckleheads inspired by (or a part of ) ISIS?

This is one time I cannot disagree with the Indonesians.

So, did Obama just gut (none / 0) (#6)
by Militarytracy on Wed Jul 01, 2015 at 04:26:41 PM EST

Rubio's Cuban Floridian support?

: oops..wrong thread (none / 0) (#7)
by Militarytracy on Wed Jul 01, 2015 at 04:27:18 PM EST

I get the same reaction but ... (none / 0) (#9)
by Babel 17 on Wed Jul 01, 2015 at 07:56:45 PM EST

I get the same reaction but being "a nobody" here in the USA makes me aware that the little people in a country often doesn't agree with the crap their government dishes out.

How's this sound? Next time we send aid we make sure the people know it's sent in spite of who runs their government. And we cut those officials out of any photo opportunities that would show them getting stuff done.

well, given our results (none / 0) (#10)
by zaitztheunconvicted on Thu Jul 02, 2015 at 12:48:20 AM EST

given the results in terms of the nation-states that we have supposedly established, such as Afghanistan and/or Iraq ... nation states that I think regard Islam as the official religion of the nation-state . . . and lands that seem to persecute the Christians and/or ignore the situation when Christians are being killed . . .

Did Libya turn out well for Christians there?

why would we care about having Indonesia spent money and lives to create or protect another Islamic state by the name of Iraq?

why is Iraq better or worse than ISIS? Why is Stalin better or worse than Hitler or Mao?

Isn't ISIs on a self-destructive path, one that will end whether we act or not?