U.S. AMBASSADORSHIP TO INDONESIA IS POST WITHOUT A PERSON

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85M00364R002204280141-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 19, 2007
• Sequence Number: 141
• Publication Date: October 12, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2007/12/19: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204280141-1
;Frier
ON ?AGE /
U. S. Ambassadorship
To Indonesia Is Post
Without a. Person
And Therein Lies Bizarie Tale
Of Politics and Backbiting;
The Bafflement in Jakarta
By GLL:w F. SEIB and EDWARD T. Potncn
Staff Reporters of Tu+e V. run, S'tT Jo-:u.%*
W'AStilNGTON -The red car pet . is being
rolled out here for Indonesian President Soe-
harto. who is arriving today to the kind of
efftsive welcome the White House reserves
for important friends. .But the public
warmth wort reveal that Indonesia -is an
unwitting player in one of the most bizarre
back-corridor personnel struggles of the
Reagan administration.
For nearly a year, the administration has
failed to name an ambassador to Indonesia.
an oil power and the fifth most populous
country in the world. There isn't any sbon-
age of candidates. Four different names, in-
e;ud ng that of one of this country's most
distinguished diplomats, have been floated
in ad.nnnistration circles.
Bu', in each "case the choice has been
blocked by - the political backbiting that
sometimes paralyzes the Reagan adminis-
tration and keeps important national-secu-
rty jobs vacant for months. Conservatives
fib ,t liberals over who should get the job,
and the State Department's proiessionals
fight with the White House politicians. "It.is
the single most tortured ambassadorial saga
of this administration." says Richard Hol-
brooke. former assistant secretary of state
in charge of East Asian affairs and now a
senior adviser of Lehman Brothers Kuhn
Loeb Inc.
Tlie latest candidate for the job is- Wash-
ington businessman Kent B. Crane.. He
hasn't been officially nominated. but friends
say President Reagan called him recently to
ash; if he'd be willing to take the job.
Controversial Choice
Yet his nomination may be dropped be-
cause o: the controversy it would cause, ad.
ministration officials say. According to a va-
riety of present and former government offi-
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
12 October 1982
Mr. Crane's friends are angered by the
controversy. "It seems to me that this is a
power play and that it's an effort to reject
one more political appointee to an ambassa-
dorial post." says Richard V. Allen, the 'tor-
met national-security adviser to President
Reagan. "in this case, however, it involves
the rejection of a qualified appointee." (Mr.
Crane himself hasn't returned several phone
calls placed to him by this newspaper.)
Mr. Crane is' hardly the first mar. to be
caught in a power play over the post in Ja-
karta_ The saga actually began last fall,
when Ambassador Edward Masters was-re-
tiring from the past. The administration de-
cided at the time it would nominate Michael
::Armacost, a specialist in Asian affairs in the
tale Department, for the job. Indonesians
were told.:and the transition was about to be
made smoothly. ? - : ' ' ;
That was before Morton Abramowitz, one
.of : the State Departments most highly.der
orated diplomats, entered the picture. Mr.
Abramowitz had been ambassador to Thai-
land. Secretary of State ;Alexander Haig. de-
cided at about that time.to promote hunt to
assistant secretary of state -in -charge of
East Asia. .
sue
of maintaining us. mtutary facilities
there. -
So the White House decided to send him
instead to Indonesia. Mr. Arnntcost, who
had been picked for that job. was switched
at the last minute to the Philippine's. Indone-
sia was baffled and miffed atthe switch.
Indonesia grew more upset when the
mysterious "point paper" on Tit. Abra-
mowitz reentered the picture. Somehow the
paper found its way -to Indonesia and i to
the hands of President Suebarto. U.S. offi-
cials; say. Indonesian officials decided Mr.
Abramowitz vas out' of step with -t1-Lshing- ,
ton power circles.'
Indonesia privately sent word to the State
Department last November that it didn't.
want Mr. Abramowitz. W. Haig thcurgnt the
Indonesian stand would change- so he sim-
ply let Mr. Abramowitz hang in hmho -for
six months. Finally, last May. the State De-
partment announced that Indonesia had re-
jected hire. He is still waiting to hear what
his next assignment will be. -
It isn't clear who wrote the damning
point paper." Mr. Abramowitz's friends
charge that one key-player was Daniel Ar-
nold. a former CIA official in Asia who had
clashed with W. Abramowitz. Mr. Arnold
denies he helped write the memo. although
he acknowledges being called by an undis-
closed friend and answering -several ques-
tions" about Mr. Abramowitz. "I think the i
memo was written in the WThite'Iiouse," he
says. Mr. Abramowitz's friends also suggest
that retired Gen. Richard Stilwell, a former
intelligence official and now deputy under-
secretary of defense for policy, played a
hand. But Gen. Stilwell denies that.
in any case, the State Department sug-
gested that the White House Eli the Indone-
sin job instead with Daniel O'Donohue. a !
foreign-service officer serving in the State
Department's Asian bureau. One of his sup-
porters, officials say, is special Mideast en-
voy Philip Habib. But the % bite Horse
turned down the suggestion and said it had
picked Mr. Crane.
State Department records show Mr.
Crane was an official in the U.S. embassy in
Indonesia from 1460 to 1962. in some tmspeci-
fied job in the department from 196 to 1964.
in the embassy in Tanzania in, J. &t and in
the embassy in Ghana in 1465. Sources in-
side and outside the government say Mr.
Crane was actuary working for the CIA dur-
ing this period and using a State Depart-
ment title as cover.
Friends in High Places ,
Today, Mr. Crane is president of Crane
Group Ltd., an international investing and
consulting firm. At some point in his intelli-
gence and business career, he develofied a
friendship with President Soeharto. -U.S. of-
ficials say. A fruw years ago, friends say.
Mr. Crane helped President Soeharto's son
enroll in a college in Virginia. Mr. Crane re-
portedly even helped the son decide on a
course of study to his liking and helped en-
roll his fiancee.
White House Enemies
But hie'. Abramowitz, :2 blunt-spoken
man. had made enemies among the conser-
vatives in and around the Reagan White
House. Some of them decided he shouldn't
.get the job. They drew up a "point paper"
about him and began circulating it in the
White House. ?
Much of what the paper said is incorrect
or misleading, but Air. Abramowits's sup-
porters say the .paper was poison for Mr.
Abramowitz.' It charged he has a "political
-philosophy .... akin to McGovern, Muskie
and Mondale" and said he was the "arcbi?
lest for U.S. troop withdrawal from Korea,"
an idea advanced by the Carter administra
tion.
In truth, Mr. Abramowitz is known as a
tough-minded political . moderate, rather
than the'.liberal the paper portrayed. And
friends say that Mr. Abramowitz, who was
posted to the Pentagon at the time, privately
opposed withdrawing troops from Korea.
But he publicly defended the policy - once
President Carter decided on- it.
The damage was done, however: Mr.
Haig decided against naming Mr. Abram-
owna to the assistant secretar''s job and
dais, Mr. Crane is a former Central Intelli-':1 considered sending him as ambassador .to
-
i gence Agency undercover agent who has
i close ties to President Soeharto and to a
prominent Indonesian businessman.
State Department professionals, who
i would like to see a diplomatic pro named to
the job, are anguished over the prospect of
Mr. Crane's nomination. Some senators,
who. would Lave to approve the choice, are
ren. to pounce on it. They think Mr.
Crane's Indcnesian ties amount to a conflict
of interest and they question whether former
intelligence agents should become ambassa-
dors.
the Philippines. But conservative
military
officers objected -again, - complaining he
couldn't be trusted 'to handle the sensitive is-
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Mr. Crane also has developed business
ties to a wealthy Indonesian entrepreneur
named Yani Haryanto, sources inside and
outside the government say. Administration
aides say Mr. Crane has, for several years,'
invested Mr. Haryanto's money in numerous
U.S. projects, particularly in large ranches.
Mr. Haryanto also is friendly with the In-
donesian first family, according to a busi-
nessman who deals extensively with Indone-,
sia.
Mr. Crane's friends say that after Presi-
dent Reagan offered him the job in Jakarta
he severed all his Indonesian business ties.
Still, the White house hasn't been able to re---
solve other questions raised about Mr.
Crane. For example, a background check
being done on Mr. Crane in connection with
the possible ambassadorial appointment
turned up suggestions that he was somehow
linked -to -illicit weapons sales. But officials
say such allegations haven't been substanti-
One of the-areas that administration offi-
cials are looking into .is the activities of
Techdirective, a company Mr. Crane helped
found last year. The company, based in
Washington. was to.market special, light-
weight plastic holsters, weapons .and weap-
ons-related equipment. But Howard Bane,
one of Mr. Crane's partners in the venture,
said the only device ever developed by the
company was the special holster and that
the company collapsed before any products
could be marketed.
Senators Step In
Lawmakers who have gotten word of Mr.
Crane's selection remain uneasy. They won-
der whether his business interests or his inn
telligence - background would interfere with
his ability to carry out orders as ambassa-
dor. "If there's anything unusual about this
.guy, he isn't.going to make it through the
(Foreign Relations) Committee," says one
Senate staffer.
Also. disgruntled congressional support- .
ers of Mr. Abramowitz may balk at approv-
ing any envoy to Indonesia until Mr. Abra-
mowitz is given another good job. as.he has
been promised. Democratic Sen. John Glenn
of Ohio and Republican Sen. S.I. Hayakawa.
of California. both members of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee, recently sent
a letter to Secretary of State George Shultz
urging that Mr. Abramowitz be given a good
job. "I've expressed.my interest in Mon re-
ceiving a job commensurate with his abili-
ties both in the letter and in conversation,
and I'm confident something can be worked
out." Sen. Glenn says.
And so White House officials have told
Mr. Crane his nomination is being held up
pending a review of his background and
business dealings. "I think the situation
hasn't been decided," Mr. Allen says. "I
hope -the president reviews this case care-
fully." But State Department officials think
the choice of Mr. Crane is dead. They-doubt
the White House 'wants to endure more con?
troversy over a post that already has pro-
vided more than its share.
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