Remember that time Putin gave Indonesia the arms and the green light to launch a genocidal attack on the island nation of East Timor — resulting in a slaughter proportionally on par with the Nazi Holocaust? Oops… my bad. That was U.S. President Gerald Ford and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in 1975.
Context:
East Timor is a former Portuguese colony just above Australia. It became the target of a relentless and murderous assault by Indonesia on December 7, 1975 — just two days after President Gerald Ford and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger left Indonesia having given Suharto their blessing. That invasion was made possible through the sale of U.S. arms to its loyal client-state, the silent complicity of the American press, and Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s skill at keeping the UN uninvolved.
After having served as an advisor to Richard Nixon (an excellent venue for honing skills of genocide), Moynihan was appointed U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations under Ford. It was on his watch that the U.S.-backed Indonesian invasion of East Timor took place. Moynihan bragged to the Australian ambassador to the UN that he was “under instructions from Kissinger personally not to involve himself in discussions on Timor with Indonesians.”
In his book, A Dangerous Place, Moynihan further detailed his role in the East Timorese genocide: “The United States wished things to turn out as they did, and I worked to bring this about. The Department of State desired that the United Nations prove utterly ineffective in whatever measures it undertook. This task was given to me, and I carried it forward with no inconsiderable success.”
More than 200,000 East Timorese (nearly one-third of the population) lost their lives due to war-related starvation, disease, massacres, or atrocities. Proportionally, the depth of the Suharto-led slaughter is on par with the Nazi Holocaust.
When the Indonesian dictator visited Washington in 1995, the New York Times quoted a Clinton administration official as calling Suharto “our kind of guy.” The ironic accuracy of that assessment appeared to escape the Times’ notice.
Pro tip: When governments, corporations, and billionaires collude, stop looking for the “good guys.” This approach will provide you with the clarity you need to discern reality and how to deal with it.
Mickey Z. is the founder of Helping Homeless Women - NYC, offering direct relief to women on New York City streets. To help him grow this project, CLICK HERE and donate right now. And please spread the word!