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The Japan Times-Editorial-Back to t



The Japan Times
Editorial
August 28,1998

Back to the barracks

In China, President Jiang Zemin has ordered the People's Liberation Army to
give up its far-flung business empire and focus on soldiering. In
Indonesia, the government of President Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie has pulled
its combat troops from the provinces of Aceh and East Timor and begun
investigations of human-rights abuses that have been blamed on the
military. In Nigeria, Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar has pledged to return his
country to civilian rule after a democratic election. These three cases do
not constitute a trend; each is the product of particular circumstances.
They are to be welcomed, nonetheless. They are reminders that armed forces
serve their country best by doing what they do best: returning to the
barracks, focusing on national security and acting as instruments of state
authority, not challenges to it.

China's PLA has built a huge network of businesses. In the 1980s, the
military was encouraged to open commercial enterprises to get around budget
constraints. It is estimated that the PLA owns about 15,000 businesses,
from hotels to manufacturing companies, that generate $10 billion in
revenues annually, or about 3 percent of China's gross domestic product.

Professional soldiers have complained that the PLA's business activities
distract it from the business of soldiering. Competitors claim that PLA
companies enjoy unfair commercial advantages, an argument that works
against China's bid to join the World Trade Organization as well as efforts
to modernize the economy. Government officials assert that the companies'
unlawful activities -- tax evasion, smuggling, money laundering -- rob the
state coffers of badly needed revenues. In each case, the PLA activities
undermine state authority.

Indonesia's military problem is different. Ever since former President
Suharto began his climb to power in 1965, the military has backstopped his
rule. While the military has not taken the commercial route favored by the
PLA, it has become the real source of power in Indonesia, no matter what
democratic rituals are invoked. It was the military that effectively ended
Mr. Suharto's rule by declaring that it would no longer support him.

Under the ideology of "dwifungsi," or dual function, Indonesia's military
has fought both external and internal threats. That, when combined with the
institution's political authority, has been an invitation to abuse. The
military has long been accused of human-rights abuses, including acts of or
complicity in kidnapping, torture and murder. Under Mr. Habibie, however,
the military seems to be facing a new era of accountability. Complaints of
human-rights violations are being investigated, and even top generals are
being questioned. Combat troops that have been deployed in the provinces of
Aceh and East Timor are being withdrawn. In speeches this month, Mr.
Habibie and Armed Forces Chief of Staff Wiranto offered unprecedented
apologies for the military's past practices.

In Nigeria, Gen. Abdulsalam has pledged to end the military's 38 years of
misrule and return a democratically elected government to power. The
reliability of that promise has been questioned, but there is no doubt that
the military juntas that have turned Nigeria into one of the world's
greatest kleptocracies would do the country a favor by sticking to
soldiering.

By no means do these three developments suggest a trend is in the making.
Each is the product of local developments; cynics caution that in no
country is the desired outcome assured. And, for each case, there is
another country in which the military's authority is expanding. In Mexico,
for example, the federal government seems to be increasingly reliant on the
army for internal security concerns, be they peasant insurrections or the
fight against drug traffickers. In Myanmar, the military is reaching
further and further into the workings of the economy. That, as China and
Nigeria can attest, is a mistake.

Every military's relationship to civilian authorities is complicated and
ambiguous. In theory, it is subordinate to the executive even though it is
the ultimate instrument of that authority. Not surprisingly, the military
often has its own ideas about how the state should be run and is frequently
willing to challenge civilian governments when it comes to policies and
priorities. Japan knows well the price that can be paid when the armed
forces slip the rein of civilian authorities. Soldiers belong in their
barracks: not in bazaars or businesses.

(August 28, 1998)

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