ABSTRACT
Jakarta’s reassertion of sovereignty over Aceh revolved around an expanded government infrastructure of centralized, mutually supporting military and civilian bureaucracy. Against GAM’s wide control and presence, Indonesia’s government apparatus superimposed new, additional hierarchies of professional dependency and loyalty. That program was an essential part of the war’s more openly military campaign, within which Jakarta’s armed power guided and merged into civilian government operations aimed ostensibly at greater regional autonomy and fairer revenue distribution, hence its Holistic Operation (Operasi Terpadu) title from mid-2003.1
New structural arrangements had far-reaching implications for many related activities, such as Islamist syariah legal codes, militia programs, and later, posttsunami humanitarian relief and reconstruction (discussed separately in Chapter 8). Key to all such activity was greater funding, implicit in the literal business growth in military operations and civil government, but more apparent in official records and planning as increased opportunities in loyalist contract, employment, and repopulation efforts. However, all expansion combined with basic strategic aims to disrupt Acehnese resistance control of populated areas, and interdict GAM logistics for less accessible, remote sanctuaries.
