Aggressive Realism: Genocide in East Timor
In August 1975, Indonesian president Suharto met with Gerald Ford and Henry Kissinger in Jakarta, discussing his plans to annex East Timor. Kissinger and the American delegation made clear that they would not object. One day later, Indonesian forces invaded. By the time the "pacification campaign" was through, an estimated one to three hundred thousand East Timorese were dead, roughly a quarter of the entire population. What were the circumstances that led to this atrocity and how could it have been averted?
Before the invasion, East Timor was controlled by the left-populist Fretilin party. This contrasted with Indonesia's far-right government, and with the ideologically similar if slightly less extreme United States. In short, Indonesia was one of America's most crucial strategic allies. Now unclassified documents show that the State Department adopted a "policy of silence" on East Timor for decades on end, in spite of a litany of credible reports of human rights abuses. In fact, the American embassy in Jakarta systematically dismissed hundreds of reports of wholesale civilian massacre.
By the mid-1990s, it was clear that the annexation of East Timor was not feasible; despite the brutality inflicted upon the people of East Timor, they simply would not capitulate. In 1993, the U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia wrote that Indonesian control would "never be palatable as long as it is demanded at gunpoint." This marks a turnaround in global attitudes toward the occupation. In 1999, Indonesia withdrew, incidentally massacring killing thousands in the process. To this day, the East Timor genocide remains one of the worst in human history, comparable (as a proportion of the total population) to that of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.
Before the invasion, East Timor was controlled by the left-populist Fretilin party. This contrasted with Indonesia's far-right government, and with the ideologically similar if slightly less extreme United States. In short, Indonesia was one of America's most crucial strategic allies. Now unclassified documents show that the State Department adopted a "policy of silence" on East Timor for decades on end, in spite of a litany of credible reports of human rights abuses. In fact, the American embassy in Jakarta systematically dismissed hundreds of reports of wholesale civilian massacre.
By the mid-1990s, it was clear that the annexation of East Timor was not feasible; despite the brutality inflicted upon the people of East Timor, they simply would not capitulate. In 1993, the U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia wrote that Indonesian control would "never be palatable as long as it is demanded at gunpoint." This marks a turnaround in global attitudes toward the occupation. In 1999, Indonesia withdrew, incidentally massacring killing thousands in the process. To this day, the East Timor genocide remains one of the worst in human history, comparable (as a proportion of the total population) to that of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.
Comments