INDONESIA

ORLANDON DE GUZMAN, Frontline/World correspondent, June 27, 2007
CZIKOWSKY: If there was to be another natural disaster, how do you think the past experiences might guide how well the two warring sides would make agreements on future disaster relief?
DE GUZMAN: I do hope there is not another natural disaster. Indonesia has suffered too many of them the past few years! The price paid for peace in Aceh—the death of 170,000 people—is just too high. But I worry that as the memory of the tsunami begins to fade away, officials and leaders will return to old habits. When I interviewed the military general who was in charge of counterinsurgency operations in Aceh for the documentary, I asked him specifically if it was the tsunami that brought the peace. The general said that it was a “tool” to bring the two sides together, but it still remains to be seen if it is the main reason for the peace.
I think that major natural disasters can put their own human follies into perspective, but how stubborn are we, and what are the limits of our ability to change?