#1 Given yesterdayâs Daily Press Briefing from the U.S. Department of State, Iâd say the âhostile, ungrateful Indonesiaâ theme is a MSM creation. Anything to boost sales and circulation, eh? An excerpt: QUESTION: Richard, could you explain why the U.S. feels it is so important, despite obvious concerns that the Indonesians have about the foreign military presence there, if they're saying, look, we don't need any more help, we'll be able to handle this on our own, why the U.S. believes it needs to tell the Indonesians that you need to stay?
MR. BOUCHER: They're not saying that.
QUESTION: Yeah, they are. I mean, you know, I spoke to --
MR. BOUCHER: No, they're not.
QUESTION: Richard, the Vice President was very clear in his statement yesterday, the Indonesians --
MR. BOUCHER: I just spent five minutes explaining our discussions with the Vice President.
QUESTION: I understand that. I was listening to you.
MR. BOUCHER: But the Indonesians are not saying we don't need the help, go home.
QUESTION: They are.
MR. BOUCHER: No, they're not.
QUESTION: Yeah, Richard --
MR. BOUCHER: They are not saying it to us. We are talking to them directly. We are talking to them every day on the ground in the operations.
QUESTION: But they're making public statements. They're making --
MR. BOUCHER: They're not saying it to us. They're not saying to anybody involved in this relief operation, "That's fine. Go home." When they do, when they can take care of it, that's fine, we'll go home.
QUESTION: So when the Indonesian Vice President says -- or, excuse me, the Foreign Minister says, we will be able to handle this as of March 26th, foreign military and aid groups can leave, how do you interpret that?
MR. BOUCHER: That is not what he said to us when we asked him about it. We asked him about his public remarks and he gave us an explanation that I've just passed on to you. That's what he says.
QUESTION: So you're saying that they are not giving the U.S. an explicit --
MR. BOUCHER: No one is asking us to go home.
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The Indonesian Government has received unexpected support from the United States over its move to regulate the movements of Western aid workers in the province of Aceh. Aid groups have been worried by an increase in the Indonesian military's role in reconstruction and relief efforts. But the US ambassador says there have been no delays for Western aid workers. The director of US aid in the region, William Frej, concurs. "The collaborative relationship that the aid deliverers have with the TNI [Indonesian military] up there, that is one of the really remarkable stories of this whole event," Mr Frej said. "The Army has been very collaborative, supportive, cooperative in both protecting relief workers as well as getting supplies out." Many aid groups are more skeptical, worried the Army will once again begin its military campaign against separatist rebels in Aceh. The US ambassador says the 14,000-strong US force near Aceh will leave at Indonesia's request. 