🚀 go-pugleaf

unfortunately the US military (and by extension the US taxpayer) has been
deep in it for almost 50 years, since the CIA started agitating against
Sukarno in the early 50s.  In 1965, after 7+ years of military aid, Henry
Kissinger gave General Suharto a green light to carry out a coup. This
resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people (estimates vary
from the CIA's 250,00 to Amnesty International's 1+million) and the arrest
of 750,000 by the Indonesian government's own figures.

In 1975 Indonesia invaded East Timor, killing 15% of the local population
of 700,000.  The US embassy passed on to the military the names of 5000
"communist party leaders" and checked off their names as they were
arrested or killed.  From 1980-1996 (the only years for which I have
figures handy) the US continued to pour money into the indonesian
military: $60 million in direct military aid & training and $600 million
in pentagon-negotiated arms sales.  US arms merchants sold $200 million in
"goods" to Jakarta directly in that same period.

It seems obvious that the East TImorese militias active now and the
Indonesian military/police are one and the same; both are participating in
the violence and mass deportations.

Now, here's the punch line:

In the wake of a particularly gruesome machete massacre carried out by one
of the militias, Admiral Dennis Blair, US Commander in Chief of the
Pacific, was dispatched to Jakarta in April to to meet with General
Wiranto, the Indonesian armed forces commander, essentially to tell him to
shut down the militia operation.  Admiral Blair instead told the general
that US military assistance was on its way for the first time since 1992,
invited the general to Hawaii and failed to mention the little problem
with the militias altogether.  A "concerned" state department arranged a
followup call between Blair and Wiranto that also consited of nothing more
than pleasantries.  Allan Nairn has an article in the new Nation about
this.

so in the interest of not carrying on much more, let me just say that
cries of 'but we shouldn't get involved' are more than a bit disingenuous,
as we're [the US is] already in up to our necks.  to what extent the US
created the situation we're looking at now is debatable as much of the
evidence is classified, but the sheer quantity of military aid (not to
mention the coziness cited above) points to something other than clean
hands.  what's the net.libertarian position on federal government
responsibility for extra-constitutional foreign policy disasters?

ethan


Ray Ubinger (rcuSPAMFOIL@duke.edu) wrote:
: Tom Gauldin writes:

: > The idea is to leave the US taxpayers and our military people out of it.

: I agree; IMO it's even legally mandatory to remain officially neutral 
: unless we ourselves get attacked.  `In order to provide for the common 
: defense OF us the people of the UNITED STATES, we do ordain and establish 
: that Congress shall have power to raise and support armed forces.'  
: East Timorans aren't covered.

: They can be covered in the future, though.  If you want the government 
: to spend lives and treasure to provide for East Timorans' defense, all 
: you have to do to make it legal is amend the Constitution.  Or admit 
: East Timor into the taxpaying Union.

: 'Til then, everyone should at least be able to agree you've a right to 
: defend non-U.S. people and territory at your own private expense.


: Ray Ubinger
: Durham NC
: "Your Life, Your Way"