Fiscal Year 2005 Foreign Assistance Programs in the East Asia and Pacific Region

Keyser, Donald W., DISAM Journal

[The following are excerpts of the remarks presented to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Washington, D.C., March 2, 2004.]

Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to share with the Committee our priorities for foreign assistance programs in the East Asia and Pacific region for fiscal year 2005.

Overview: U.S. Interests

The Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs (EAP) has placed counter-terrorism (CT) at the top of its list of strategic foreign assistance goals for fiscal year 2005. In light of a continued terrorist threat in Southeast Asia, evident in major bombings in Bali and Jakarta in the past two years, efforts to combat terrorist activity have been central to the pursuit of EAP's strategic goals that encompass the following: our traditional, primary long-term goal of promoting regional stability; fostering democracy and human rights; encouraging economic prosperity; fighting transnational issues and international crime; and preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

Counter-terrorism: Terrorism in the Asia-Pacific region is a serious threat to U.S. national security interests, including the welfare and security of American citizens in the region and the security of friends and allies. It poses a direct and immediate threat to regional trends toward stability, democratization, and prosperity that are otherwise generally positive. The Bureau's goal is to root out terrorism and address the underlying conditions, including the absence of rule of law, that make the region vulnerable to terror.

EAP will work with countries in the region bilaterally and through regional organizations to strengthen their capacity to combat terrorism and to foster the type of international cooperation needed to fight the global war on terrorism.

In Indonesia, for example, we intend to build on the successful efforts, funded by the Nonproliferation, Anti-terrorism, Demining, and Related Programs (NADR) account, to continue training and to expand the Indonesian National Police's Counter-terrorism Task Force. And, we will use the increase in fiscal year 2005 Economic …

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Publication information: Article title: Fiscal Year 2005 Foreign Assistance Programs in the East Asia and Pacific Region. Contributors: Keyser, Donald W. - Author. Magazine title: DISAM Journal. Volume: 26. Issue: 3 Publication date: Spring 2004. Page number: 91+. © 2008 Defense Institute of Security Assistance Management. COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group.

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