Gerald Ford and genocide in East Timor. Remember the victims.

[Tom Joad]

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB62/

Only Kissinger remains alive and subject to prosecution for crimes against humanity.

FORD, KISSINGER AND THE INDONESIAN INVASION, 1975-76

Ford and Kissinger Gave Green Light to
Indonesia's Invasion of East Timor, 1975:
New Documents Detail Conversations with Suharto

National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 62
Edited by William Burr and Michael L. Evans

December 6, 2001




The New Evidence

The Indonesian invasion of East Timor in December 1975 set the stage for the long, bloody, and disastrous occupation of the territory that ended only after an international peacekeeping force was introduced in 1999. President Bill Clinton cut off military aid to Indonesia in September 1999—reversing a longstanding policy of military cooperation—but questions persist about U.S. responsibility for the 1975 invasion; in particular, the degree to which Washington actually condoned or supported the bloody military offensive. Most recently, journalist Christopher Hitchens raised questions about the role of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in giving a green light to the invasion that has left perhaps 200,000 dead in the years since. Two newly declassified documents from the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, released to the National Security Archive, shed light on the Ford administration’s relationship with President Suharto of Indonesia during 1975. Of special importance is the record of Ford’s and Kissinger’s meeting with Suharto in early December 1975. The document shows that Suharto began the invasion knowing that he had the full approval of the White House. Both of these documents had been released in heavily excised form some years ago, but with Suharto now out of power, and following the collapse of Indonesian control over East Timor, the situation has changed enough that both documents have been released in their entirety.

Other documents found among State Department records at the National Archives elucidate the inner workings of U.S. policy toward the Indonesian crisis during 1975 and 1976. Besides confirming that Henry Kissinger and top advisers expected an eventual Indonesian takeover of East Timor, archival material shows that the Secretary of State fully understood that the invasion of East Timor involved the "illegal" use of U.S.-supplied military equipment because it was not used in self-defense as required by law.

[mod mom]

1. I was totally unfamiliar w this event until Amy Goodman (Democracy Now)

gave a speech on this in Columbus last year. Here is a link of Amy's recount:

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/11/13/1517231

[Tom Joad]

5. That was a small episode in a very brutal occupation that took hundreds of

thousands of lives. I think up to one-fifth of the population of East Timor was wiped out.
Let us remember Ford as an accessory in one of the worst human rights tragedies of the 20th century.
Let us not forget his continuation of the bombing of Vietnam, that killed thousands. The US did finally end its genocide against Vietnam during Ford's tenure when congress cut its funding.

[intheflow]

39. Yes, I had the same thing happen.

Amy came to speak at my seminary about 4 years ago. I had been a peace studies major in undergrad and my masters of divinity has a concentration in peace and justice. I thought I had studied every piece of scummy US foreign policy interdiction, but it wasn't until I heard Amy that I heard about Timor.

[Tom Joad]

2. So we can remember Ford correctly, you might want to rec this thread.

[StopVoteFraud]

4. Sure

The whole world needs to see this.

[razors edge]

3. I like Jimmy Carter, but he did nothing to stop this

and as Exxon stole the oil, Kissinger was given a gold mine if I remember correctly.

[Tom Joad]

6. Yep, you are sadly right there.

Carter has his own complicity in supporting Indonesia (and other human rights violators) too.

[stansnark]

24. what did you expect of carter?

after all it was david rockefeller and henry kissinger who created him as a national political entity.have to play ball at least a little bit.

[razors edge]

40. At this point

expecting that the CIC will uphold his oath, or even be able to understand it, is a long distant memory. Maybe we should just write off the next generation of leaders and focus on requiring a full understanding of the constitution as a prerequisite to a High School diploma. At this point it couldn't hurt.

[bicentennial_baby]

7. Count Mr Carter in there...

and you're on :)

[bbinacan]

8. I think many Presidents

have been guilty of not stopping genocide and mass murder. From both parties.

[SeattleGirl]

9. That's absolutely true. President Ford did not have a corner on this.

[Tom Joad]

10. He not only did not stop it, the US sponsored it. We gave massive military aid to

indonesia. But yes, he certainly is not alone in guilt in supporting genocide.

[Sapphire Blue]

11. Can't wait to dance on his grave? Would you post the same about Clinton & Rwanda?

President Ford was a decent man. Not perfect, but decent. May he rest in peace.

[bicentennial_baby]

12. Well, Clinton at least admitted that

Rwanda was his *greatest* mistake and apologized.... just sayin'

[Tom Joad]

14. And clinton did not rush weapons to facilitate the massacre.

[bicentennial_baby]

16. True dat

:thumbsup:

[Tom Joad]

13. No one is dancing on graves. Clinton did not send weapons to Rwanda, did

not give "green lights" to a brutal, illegal occupation. This is one of the crimes of the Ford administration. Read the link. Read real US history (god bless Howard Zinn)
I merely wish to set the historical record straight, that his actions caused the death of hundreds of thousands, and should not be rewritten or forgotten.

You may disagree, but i feel that forgetting or whitewashing any genocide, especially one that the US and its leaders have complicity in, is not good for any of us.

[Sapphire Blue]

17. No, you're not dancing on his grave; he hasn't been buried yet.

I've lived this history. I don't need someone to "set the historical record straight" immediately upon the death of person whose record is being referenced.

Please, just have a little respect before you go on to "set the historical record straight". If that's asking too much, I suppose I should avoid these types of threads. *sigh*

[otherlander]

15. I would say that about Clinton.

Ford was providing weapons, which is worse than ignoring the situation, but in the end, the result is the same.

[Tom Joad]

18. Clinton is more directly responsible for the death of thousands in Iraq

since he continued deadly sanctions imposed by Bush the first. He also ordered frequent bombing of Iraq.

[donheld]

21. Ford's 3 biggest problems

Henry Kissinger, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld.

[Little Star]

30. Thank You. Important point you make, birds

of a feather and all. Would we have them if not for Ford?

[Selatius]

19. Everybody from Ford to Bill Clinton helped perpetuate Indonesia's brutality on East Timor.

Let's be fair here if we're going to play the blame game. Suharto was a dictator, but the US government did a lot of business with him. He was a big fan of American military hardware, and many were more than willing to make money off of his war machine.

[Tom Joad]

29. I agree. Like Palestinians, the people of East Timor hardly rated at all.

The purpose of the post is to keep alive real US history, and to prevent it from being whitewashed.

[donheld]

20. Tom, thanks for the reminder

I had forgotten this was Ford's doing.

[rman]

22. "Death of a Nation - The Timor Conspiracy" (docu)

Death of a Nation - The Timor Conspiracy
by John Pilger
http://www.johnpilger.com
http://www.chomskytorrents.org/TorrentDetails.php?TorrentID=139
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-9118496582943064758&q=John Pilger
John Pilger analyzes the Indonesian invasion of 1975, exposing the genocide and Western complicity leading up to the vote of independence in 1999.
A power struggle between political parties within East Timor erupted into civil war in the summer of 1975.
In 1998, John Pilger and David Munro entered East Timor where 23 years earlier, a team of journalists, including Australian Greg Shackleton, were murdered by the Indonesian army for daring to question the validity of the invasion.

[cali]

23. Save me from

the rigidly (and religiously) self-righteous. Gerald Ford was a human being. He made mistakes. Just like all Presidents, his is not a spotless record, anymore than Carter who carried on his policy wrt E. Timor, or Clinton who pushed for and supported the santions against Iraq.

Ford really was a decent man. Typical of you to excoriate him before his body is even cold.

Some folks haven't a clue as to basic human decency.

[stansnark]

25. setting the record straight

has nothing to do with the dead. it has everything to do with the living. mentioning the warren commision, the pardon, and east timor every time ford's name comes up sends a message to any living politician concerned with their legacy.as inappropiate and distasteful as the timing seems it is nonetheless necessary, to in the future help a similar man in a similar circumstance,knowing their name will be forever tarnished in a similar manner, resist doing the bidding of the rich and powerful.

[cali]

26. What utter nonsense.

Do you actually think that the ramblings on DU have any bearing whatsoever on the legacy of Ford or any other politician? It doesn't now and it's unlikely to in the future. Ford's legacy isn't tarnished by this spewing, anymore than a democratic President's legacy will be tarnished by the inevitable mirror nastiness that will undoubtedly take place in freeperville when Carter or Clinton dies.

[Tom Joad]

27. Ford provides the weaponry for the death of one-third of the population of East Timor.

Ford and Kissinger knew full well what was happening on East Timor. Yet there was not a bit of upsetting of US support for Suharto. No one important was being killed, in their view.

Is it because the victims were not European that Ford is still to be considered this wonderfully decent person? What is this criteria?

The purpose of the post is to remind people of US history... not as we imagine it, not as we would want it to be, but as it was.

I think, understandably, many people in the US want a Disney-version of US history. I think the people of DU can handle the real version.

[cali]

32. The real version is far

far, far from your black and white version. And your knowledge of history is so skewed by bias that it's laughable.

[rman]

34. aw,

ad hominem. no substance.

here's some substance:

The Trials of Henry Kissinger (BBC)
http://www.chomskytorrents.org/TorrentDetails.php?TorrentID=1222
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0326306/
http://www.thetrialsofhenrykissinger.com/trials.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/features/feature_kissinger.shtml
Featuring previously unseen footage, newly declassified US government documents, and revealing interviews with key insiders to the events in question, The Trials of Henry Kissinger examines the charges facing him, shedding light on a career long shrouded in secrecy. In part, it explores how a young boy who fled Nazi Germany grew up to become one of the most powerful men in US history and now, in the autumn of his life, one of its most disputed figures.

[LTR]

31. I agree with you

Show me a president that doesn't have blood on his hands.

[Tom Joad]

35. No US president. We have a very bloody history. All the more reason

for remembering it.

[durrrty libby]

37. Many, many people have a perception of Ford as the uncoordinated

but harmless president.

It is a good thing to mix in some harsh truth along with the warm fuzzies

[rman]

33. Still, East Timor is an important issue

Because is shows all to clearly the hypocrisy of the 'civilized world' regarding genocide and the pursuit of self interest.

[Swamp Rat]

28. k&r

[Dhalgren]

36. K&R! For keeping the memory straight! Death does not convert

a villain into a hero. My condolences to those who cared for him, but Ford had been a henchman all his life and was less than an honorable man. American history is replete with these characters - it doesn't make them acceptable, it doesn't mean we should look the other way...

[DesertRat]

38. k&r

[Why Syzygy]

41. K&R buddy n/t