A FREE and active foreign policy means that Indonesia cares abut every effort to bring about world peace. But we must make an exception when it comes to the recent violence in Timor Leste. The bloody burden of history means that Jakarta is not free to actively offer assistance. The option of waiting while signaling readiness to assist only if it is requested is the best one to take.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono seems to have chosen this opti