Chuck Hagel, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, has made an announcement on Monday that the U.S. has agreed to sell eight Apache AH-64E helicopters to the Indonesian Government. The sale is worth about $500 million dollars which is the largest military sale between the two countries despite concerns that the Indonesian Government would use the Attack Helicopters against their own people. The agreement also includes pilot training and radar technologies. According to Hagel, the deal was issued to ensure the regions security and prosperity, a goal that is also shared with the United States. John Miller, U.S. national coordinator for the East Timor & Indonesia Action Network, fears that these weapons will bring a negative outcome to Indonesian civilians. "The military will use these helicopters as they want. These are weapons of war, weapons of counter-insurgency, so it would be foolish to expect that the Indonesians wouldn't use them that way." Miller says. Senator Patrick Lahey proclaims that the Indonesian government is known to have a long history of abuse and remains unaccountable.
