On Wednesday 12 September 2001 12:09 pm, you wrote:
> I hope your country will never experience this
> Tom
Terrorism is, sadly, a matter of daily life in many not-so-fortunate
countries. Where I come from, Indonesia, there are two active rebellions
going on, political figures in one of the provinces rebelling (Aceh) have
been assasinated - on one recent visit, our own President could not even stay
the night due to security concerns. One other ex-province (East Timor) is
slated to become independent next year after a campaign of terror tried
unsuccessfully in 1999 to dissuade the people from voting for independence.
This after 24 years of occupation (since 1975) and the slaughter of 200,000
people, roughly a quarter of the population. Including a massacre in 1991 of
more than 100 refugees taking shelter in a church.
And this even has relevance to the US : back in 1965 the CIA was actively
involved in toppling then-President Soekarno, backing the rise of General
Soeharto in a coup followed by a bloody purge of 500,000 socialists,
suspected communist sympathizers and ethnic minorities. Kind of like Pinochet
on a larger scale. SIS (the British foreign intelligence service) has
declassified files acknowledging their involvements, the CIA has refused to
do so, even reclassifying files that was published last month.
I thoroughly sympathize with the plight of the Americans, and roundly condemn
cowardly terrorist attacks throughout the world, but the adage does hold
true: you reap what you sow.
The US should wisely use its position as the sole global superpower to help
the rest of the world, not antagonise them.
In mourning,
Michel Salim
from Indonesia
