Horror created by the west
We do not know how many have been murdered in East TImor. Last week the estimates ran as high as 6,000. But there are few eye-witnesses, and the toll is almost certainly higher.
The capital of East Timor, Dili, is empty. Hundreds of thousands have fled to the countryside. Tens of thousands have sought exile in neighbouring West Timor.
Suddenly, we are told that the big powers of the west are concerned. Suddenly they are aware that there is a tragedy unfolding. Suddenly, we are told that they are going to intervene.
Canada will send 600 troops, Australia as many as 4,000. The United States will supply logistical support.
What a travesty. What utter hypocrisy.
The United States has been supplying logistical support for years -- to the Indonesian military which is aiding and abetting the massacres.
Since 1975, the United States has sold more than $1.65 billion worth of weaponry to Indonesia.
1975 was the year that East Timor declared independence from the crumbling Portuguese empire. It was the year that Indonesia crushed the independence movement with a military invasion which, over the next few years, saw 200,000 people killed -- one-third of the population.
The western powers looked on, said nothing, and kept selling arms to the Indonesian military.
Lloyd Axworthy claims that Canada is not now selling arms to Indonesia.
This is a pathetic attempt at a cover-up.
There was a ban on arms sales to Indonesia -- from 1991 to 1994.
But in 1994, the Liberals authorized Canadian private companies to seek out and secure military contracts in Indonesia. In 1995 alone, the Liberals authorized $362.4 million in military export permits.
The Liberals say now that the East Timorese desire for independence should be respected.
Yet on eight separate occasions when it mattered -- when Indonesian troops were killing 200,000 in the late 1970s and early 1980s -- Canada either voted against or abstained on votes at the United Nations recognizing the right of East Timor to self-determination.
These lying, hypocritical western powers will not bring peace to East Timor. You cannot expect the devil to clean up hell.
We need to build a movement that looks to the real power that can stop the horror.
We had a taste of that power last week when Australian dock workers banned work on Indonesian cargo ships.
We had a taste of that power last year when the Indonesian masses overthrew the hated dictator Suharto.
We need to build a movement that demands:
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