It is amusing that several of your readers have taken jabs at our Malaysian 'peaceniks'.
I contend that Malaysia's indifferent stance with Aceh is right. In relation to the Iraq war, the peace movement had proceeded on the noble but absolutely unrealistic basis.
A movement of "peace for peace sake" ignores the fact that in realpolitik one cannot just reduce a complex situation into a black and white equation.
As evidenced by the lack of immediate condemnation of Jakarta for sending in the troops, this is not the case now. In balancing out the realities of what is happening - rebels fighting for a separate state - even the peaceniks have a reason to be silent over Aceh.
No country would allow the separatist movement in Aceh to happen. Even Abraham Lincoln fought the American Civil War to prevent the Southern states from separating. The reason why the United States has become the sole superpower today is because the Soviet Union broke up.
Lets face it, if Kelantan, Tereenganu, Sabah or Sarawak would want to forcibly secede today, even Kuala Lumpur would send in the troops.
Already, East Timor's independence has been a blow to Indonesia's national pride. Aceh's case of course, is quite different from East Timor. When the Dutch colonialists left in 1945, Aceh was made as part of the newly independent country of Indonesia. East Timor however, was never part of that initial Indonesian archipelago, and independent when Jakarta invaded in 1975.
Separatist rebels from the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) should just as much be blamed for breaching the peace deal struck with the Indonesian government. Under the deal, Aceh could have an autonomous government by 2004, and allowed to keep 70 per cent of the revenue generated from its oil reserves in return for abandoning their claims for complete independence.
Libyan-trained GAM guerillas are seen as dedicated to the formation of an Islamic State and act like terrorists. In 2001, they attacked Exxon Mobil gas fields as Indonesian troops moved in.
While the human rights violations of Indonesian Army should be condemned, this has to be done on a standalone basis.
This is a separate issue from President Megawati Sukarnoputri's strike against separatist movement in Aceh, seen as a compromise to territorial integrity and may cause the acceleration of Indonesia's fragmentation.
Megawati cannot allow Aceh to serve as role model for West Papua, or it will find itself looking like the Soviet Union in no time.
It is only if we harbour selfish interests to ensure that Indonesia remains fragmented that we would by extension promote Acehnese separation. It is only if we want to capitalise on anti Americanism (since Americans prefer Aceh to remain under Jakarta because of oil) that we will oppose her military campaign on the grounds of "peace".