-Caveat Lector- : : : : : : : From http://www.zmag.org/ : : : : 200,000 Skeletons in Richard Holbrooke's Closet : : : : Sunil Sharma : : : : March 22, 1999 : : : : Much ado has been made in the press and academic discussions about how : : Richard Holbrooke has been a force for peace in the Yugoslavia imbroglio. : : The reality behind Holbrooke's activities in the former Yugoslavia has : been : : excellently exposed in recent issues of Covert Action Quarterly and : : elsewhere by journalist and Yugoslavia expert Diana Johnstone. : : : : A little known chapter in Holbrooke's career in the US government is his : : complicity in Indonesia's campaign of genocide against East Timor. : : Holbrooke was head of the State Department's Bureau of East Asian and : : Pacific Affairs during the Carter Administration. On December7, 1975, : : Indonesia invaded East Timor, which it continues to occupy today, killing : : over 200,000 Timorese in the process, approximately 1/3 of pre-invasion : : population. The US supported Indonesia in ways which are already well : : known; there is no doubt that the invasion, ongoing occupation, and : : genocide could not have been possible without US support. : : : : Following Indonesia's invasion of East Timor, the US imposed an arms ban : on : : Indonesia from December 1975 to June 1976. The ban was a secret. In fact : : the ban was so secret that the Indonesians were unaware of it. The fraud : : was later exposed by Cornell University professor Benedict Anderson in his : : testimony before Congress in February 1978. Anderson cited a report, : : "confirmed from the Department of Defense printout", showing that there : : never was an arms ban, and that during the period of the alleged ban the : US : : initiated new offers of military weaponry to the Indonesians: : : : : If we are curious as to why the Indonesians never felt the force of the : : U.S. government's "anguish," the answer is quite simple. In flat : : contradiction to express statements by General Fish, Mr. Oakley and : : Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Richard : : Holbrooke, at least four separate offers of military equipment were made : to : : the Indonesian government during the January-June 1976 "administrative : : suspension." This equipment consisted mainly of supplies and parts for : : OV-10 Broncos, Vietnam War era planes designed for counterinsurgency : : operations against adversaries without effective anti-aircraft weapons, : and : : wholly useless for defending Indonesia from a foreign enemy. The policy of : : supplying the Indonesian regime with Broncos, as well as other : : counterinsurgency-related equipment hascontinued without substantial : change : : from the Ford through the present Carter administrations. : : : : Indeed by late 1977 the Indonesians literally began to run out of weapons : : in its campaign to destroy the Timorese. The Carter Administration stepped : : in and increased military aid and weapons sales to the Indonesians, which : : resulted in Indonesia's stepped up campaigns of 1978 to 1980 when the : level : : of killing reached genocidal levels. : : : : When asked by Australian reporters at a press conference about atrocities : : in East Timor, Holbrooke responded: : : : : I want to stress I am not remotely interested in getting involved in an : : argument over the actual number of people killed. People were killed and : : that always is a tragedy but what is at issue is the actual situationin : : Timor today . . . [Asked about how many Timorese were killed in the past] : . : : . we are never going to know anyway.(2) : : : : The date of this press conference was April 6, 1977. Holbrooke would most : : certainly have been aware that a few days earlier (April 1) the Melbourne : : Age quoted Indonesian Foreign Minister Adam Malik as saying that "50,000 : : people or perhaps 80,000 might have been killed during the war in Timor, : : but we saved 600,000 of them." Also on April 1, the Canberra Times quoted : : Malik as saying : : : : : The total may be 50,000, but what does this mean if compared with 600,000 : : people who want to join Indonesia? [SIC!!] Then what is the big fuss. It : is : : possible that they may have been killed by the Australians and not us. Who : : knows? It was war. : : : : Malik's claim that perhaps 10% of the Timorese population may have been : : killed in less than two years was a bit much for the US: Australian state : : radio reported "The State Department is clearly embarrassed by Adam : Malik's : : statement that the number killed in East Timor might have been as high as : : 80,000."(3) Fortunately the State Department could rely on the US media's : : silence to spare them from any embarrassment here at home. : : : : In September 1978, US Ambassador to Indonesia Edward Masters went to East : : Timor accompanied by an entourage of Indonesian diplomats. While there, : : Masters visited refugee camps -- really concentration camps -- that the : : Timorese had been herded into by the Indonesians and then subjected to a : : forced starvation policy. According to one US reporter who was there, : : Masters "came away so shocked by the conditions of the refugees that they : : immediately contacted the governor of East Timor . . . to explore the : : possibilities for providing foreign humanitarian assistance." However, it : : would not be until a full nine months had passed that Masters (in June : : 1979) would urge the US to provide humanitarian assistance. The timing of : : Masters' silence coincided with Indonesia being bolstered by a huge : : shipment of US military aid and weapons described above. As Benedict : : Anderson told Congress in 1980: : : : : : : : : : : In other words, for nine long months, from September 1978 to June 1979, : : while "in ever increasing numbers the starving and the ailing, wearing : rags : : at best, drifted onto the coastal plain",(4) Ambassador Masters : : deliberately refrained, even within the walls of the State Department, : from : : proposing humanitarian aid to East Timor. Until the generals in Jakarta : : gave him the green light, Mr. Masters did nothing to help the East : : Timorese, although Mr. Holbrooke insists that "the welfare of the Timorese : : people is the major objective of our policy towards East Timor.(5) : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Despite the fact that the Indonesian invasion and occupation of East Timor : : was and is an egregious violation of international law and an act of : : genocide, the Carter administration and Holbrooke in particular, while : : acknowledging that the East Timorese had not been allowed to carry out an : : act of self-determination, regarded the situation as a fait accompli. : : : : Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who at the time was the US ambassador to : : the UN, boasted in his memoirs that he effectively prevented the UN from : : implementing resolutions calling on Indonesia to withdraw immediately from : : Timor and which affirmed the Timorese people's right to : self-determination: : : : : : : : : : : : : The United States wished things to turn out as they did, and 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.(7) : : : : : : : : : : : : : : The State Department's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs was : : Holbrooke's fiefdom. While the State Department made great efforts to : : interview Cambodian refugees in order to assess the level of human rights : : violations by the Khmer Rouge, the opposite was true of Timorese refugees : : who were easily accesible in Australia and Portugal. A Christian Science : : Monitor article from 1980 on East Timor and the State Department's : : indifference to the plight of the Timorese is worth quoting at length: : : : : : : : : : : Francisco Fernandes, a Roman Catholic priest who served for several years : : as head of the Timorese refugee community, said he knew of no attempt by : US : : officials to seek out and interview any of the more than 2,000 such : : refugees who have been living in Portugal for the past several years. : : : : Even today, with the magnitude of the East Timor problem better known, : : refugees going directly to the State Department in Washington with their : : stories find that most officials here give the benefit of the doubt to the : : Indonesians. : : : : "He acted like a lawyer for the Indonesians," said one refugee after : : talking with a State Department official recently. . . . : : : : What many Timorese would like . . . is the departure of the Indonesians : : and control over their own affairs. The Timorese identity and languages : are : : distinct from those of the Indonesians. : : : : But in deferring to Indonesia on this issue, the Carter : administration,like : : the Ford administration before it, appears to have placed big-power : : concerns ahead of human rights: Indonesia is an anticommunist, largely : : Muslim, oil-producing nation with the fifth-largest population in the : : world. It commands sea lanes between the Pacific and Indian oceans. : : : : Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke recently declared it is : : potentially one of the great nations of the world. : : : : US policy toward East Timor has been made for the most part by the State : : Department's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, headed by Mr. : : Holbrooke. The bureau most concerned with human rights, which is headed by : : Assistant Secretary Patricia Derian, was barely getting organized in 1977 : : when East Timor policy was first set by the Carter administration. : : : : However, it was Ms. Derian, not Mr. Holbrooke, who was in the position of : : having to answer questions about East Timor, among other subjects, at a : : recent congressional hearing. Mr. Holbrooke let it be known he was too : busy : : preparing for a trip to appear at the Feb. 6 hearing. He did have the : time, : : however, to play host at a black-tie dinner later the same day.(8) : : : : : : : : : : : : : : All of this stands in stark contrast to Holbrooke's impassioned defense of : : the right of the Kosovo Albanians to "autonomy". Perhaps he has had some : : kind of religious conversion in recent years. : : : : The Carter Administration position on Indonesia and East Timor was best : : summed up by Assistant Secretary Holbrooke: : : : : : : : : : : The situation in East Timor is one of the number of very important : concerns : : of the United States in Indonesia. Indonesia, with a population of 150 : : million people, is the fifth largest nation in the world, is a moderate : : member of the Non-Aligned Movement, is an important oil producer -- which : : plays a moderate role within OPEC -- and occupies a strategic position : : astride the sea lanes between the Pacific and Indian Oceans. President : : Suharto and other prominent Indonesian leaders have publicly called for : the : : release of our hostages in Iran. Indonesia's position within the : : Association of South East Asian Nations -- ASEAN -- is also important and : : it has played a central role in the supporting Thailand and maintaining : the : : security of Thailand in the face of Vietnam's destabilizing actions in : : Indo-China [sic]. Finally, Indonesia has provided humane treatment for : over : : 50,000 Indo-Chinese refugees and taken the initiative in offering an : island : : site as an ASEAN refugee processing centre. Indonesia is, of course, : : important to key US allies in the region, especially Japan and Australia. : : We highly value our cooperative relationship with Indonesia.(9) : : : : : : : : : : : : : : If there was a world in which an International Court of Justice had any : : meaning, Richard Holbrooke's shameful service to State power would surely : : be characterized as a series of Crimes Against Humanity. For now, such a : : thought is merely a fantasy for those of us who seek peace and justice. : : : : Footnotes: : : : : (1) Hearings Before the Subcommittee on International Organizations of the : : Committee on International Relations. US Policy on Human Rights and : : Military Assistance: Overview and Indonesia, February 15, 1978. : : : : (2) John Hamilton, "Timor death toll not the issue: US," Melbourne Herald, : : April 7, 1977. : : : : (3) Australian sources cited in Chomsky, Noam and Edward S. Herman. The : : Washington Connection and Third World Fascism: The Political Economy of : : Human Rights: Volume I (South End Press, 1979), pp. 174-175. : : : : (4) Anderson is quoting from an article by Henry Kamm in the New York : : Times, January 28, 1980. : : : : (5) Holbrooke, written statement to the House Subcommittee on Asian and : : Pacific Affairs, Committee on Foreign Affairs, December 4, 1979. The topic : : of the hearing was East Timor, which Holbrooke did not bother to attend. : : Anderson's statement: Benedict R. O'G. Anderson, testimony at the Hearings : : before the Subcommittees on Asian and Pacific Affairs and on International : : Organizations of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of : : Representatives, 96th Congress, 2nd Session, February 1980 (US Government : : Printing Office, 1980). : : : : (6) Holbrooke said as much to author James Dunn. Timor: A People Betrayed : : (The Jacaranda Press, 1983), p.351. : : : : (7) Moynihan, Daniel P with Suzanne Weaver. A Dangerous Place (Little : : Brown, 1980), p.247. : : : : (8) Daniel Southerland, "US Role in Plight of Timor: An Issue That Won't : Go : : Away", Christian Science Monitor, March 6, 1980, p.7. : : : : (9) Foreign Assistance and Related Programs: Appropriations for 1981. : : Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, House : of : : Representatives, 96th Congress, June 1980. 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