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In 1975, Indonesia invaded and took over the island of East Timor. Since then, the Indonesian government has been responsible for killing between 100,000 and 200,000 East Timorese -- up to nearly a third of the island's pre-invasion population, depending on whose figures you believe. Government records show that since 1992, the Clinton administration has sold or licensed more than $1 billion worth of arms to Indonesia, and has provided training to its military as well. The sales have not been hindered by the human-rights violations and killings that the Indonesian military has inflicted on the East Timorese, according to groups such as the East Timor Action Network, Amnesty International, and the UN Human Rights Commission.
U.S. arms support has included $223 million worth of ammunition, missiles, spare parts, and six military satellites, according to the Council for a Livable World. Why has the U.S. ignored Indonesia's bloodthirsty East Timor policy? For one thing, Indonesia is the world's fourth most populous nation; for another, it's situated along key Pacific/Indian Ocean sea lanes. Under pressure from grassroots groups and others, Congress ended the International Military Education and Training (IMET) program in Indonesia in 1992 and banned small-arms and riot-control equipment sales in 1994. However, in 1995, Congress revived IMET as something called E-IMET -- which was supposed to teach the virtues of human rights and civilian control of the military. Congress did not learn until spring 1998 that the Pentagon had continued military training under the Joint Combined Exchange Training program (JCET), a sunny little seminar taught by Green Berets and Air Force commandos. This training involved teaching "advanced sniper techniques" and "psychological operations" to Indonesia's elite Kopassus unit, according to Lynn Fredricksson of the East Timor Action Network (ETAN). In June 1996 the Clinton administration started negotiating a deal to sell Suharto nine F-16 jets for $9-$12 million each -- and tried justifying it by claiming that large aircraft did not contribute to human-rights violations. This, however, contradicts the memories of at least one native of East Timor, Constancio Pinto, who recalls that U.S.-manufactured OV-10 Broncos (normally a lightly armed reconnaissance craft) were used to bomb and napalm East Timor. The deal was delayed for a month after the July 1996 riots, in which Suharto's army forcibly oppressed the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party. This resulted in five dead, 149 injured, and 23 missing.
The deal weathered another storm stemming from rumors of illegal Indonesian campaign contributions and a purported connection to the F-16 deal during the 1996 elections. It finally fell through in June 1997 because Suharto complained that the Congress' human-rights criticisms were "wholly unjustified." This came just after nearly 300 people died in the May 1997 riots that plagued Indonesia's elections. Despite these disruptions, Suharto's party won overwhelmingly that May. But trouble returned in the following year's presidential elections. Although Suharto won, he was forced to resign within weeks because of continued demonstrations and rioting that claimed over 1,000 lives. Vice President (and longtime Suharto crony) B.J. Habibie took office and within three months removed Suharto's son-in-law, Gen. Prabowo Subianto (commander of the Kopassus). "He was dismissed for his role in the abduction and torture of political activists," according to the Washington Post. Prabowo had close ties with the U.S. and was known to send at least 25 lieutenants a year to the Virginia Military Institute and the Citadel in South Carolina. As if in belated response to continued human-rights violations, Congress passed the Foreign Operations Appropriations Act requiring the U.S. government to "expect" that any lethal weapon or helicopter approved for sale to Indonesia would not be used in East Timor. Sponsor Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) believes that the law "makes clear that we do not want our military equipment used there because we do not condone what the Indonesian military is doing there." Congress also suspended the JCET program indefinitely. Ever resourceful, the Indonesian military now plans to train and arm 40,000 civilian youths to help suppress the anti-government turmoil that is "beyond tolerance," according to press statements by General Wiranto. This coming less than a month after Nobel Peace Laureate Jose Ramos-Horta reported that another 50 East Timorese had died in clashes with the Indonesian military. -- Suzie Larsen Flags courtesy of World Flag Database
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