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Suharto was a close ally of the United States during the [[Cold War]].  As a result, he became a bête noire of the far left, who compared his crimes to those of Cambodia's [[Pol Pot]]--though relative to population size and percent killed, Pol Pot's were over 300 times worse.<ref>http://www.fair.org/extra/9809/suharto.html</ref><ref>Assuming that Suharto killed .75% of all Indonesians during his reign, divide that figure by 32 to get his "annual percent killed":  0 .0234375%.  Then compare this to Pol Pot's 7.5% killed annually.</ref>  In the wake of US defeat in the [[Vietnam War]], President Ford saw Indonesia as a vital American ally in Asia needed to preserve America's waning influence in that part of the world.

Suharto was a close ally of the United States during the [[Cold War]].  As a result, he became a bête noire of the far left, who compared his crimes to those of Cambodia's [[Pol Pot]]--though relative to population size and percent killed, Pol Pot's were over 300 times worse.<ref>http://www.fair.org/extra/9809/suharto.html</ref><ref>Assuming that Suharto killed .75% of all Indonesians during his reign, divide that figure by 32 to get his "annual percent killed":  0 .0234375%.  Then compare this to Pol Pot's 7.5% killed annually.</ref>  In the wake of US defeat in the [[Vietnam War]], President Ford saw Indonesia as a vital American ally in Asia needed to preserve America's waning influence in that part of the world.

==Alleged Genocide in East Timor==

==Genocide in East Timor==

In 1975, Ford and Secretary of State [[Kissinger]] met with Suharto in Jakarta--as fate would have it, on the very day Indonesia decided to invade the tiny island of East Timor.  East Timor was in the midst of a low-level civil war that led to thousands of deaths and to a military takeover by a de facto Socialist dictatorship headed by the left-wing FRETILIN Party.  FRETILIN had waged a violent insurgency in East Timor to seize power and to force out Portuguese and later Indonesian "colonialists."  Widely perceived as Communist by the outside world, FRETILIN was feared in Washington and financed by Moscow.  Before FRETILIN could set up a stable government, Indonesia began preparing for non-violent solutions to the perceived problem of Timorese independence.  Indonesian leaders feared that allowing Timorese independence would inspire secessionist movements that could bring about the collapse of Indonesia.   

In 1975, Ford and Secretary of State [[Kissinger]] met with Suharto in Jakarta--as fate would have it, on the very day Indonesia decided to invade the tiny island of East Timor.  East Timor was in the midst of a low-level civil war that led to thousands of deaths and to a military takeover by a de facto Socialist dictatorship headed by the left-wing FRETILIN Party.  FRETILIN had waged a violent insurgency in East Timor to seize power and to force out Portuguese and later Indonesian "colonialists."  Widely perceived as Communist by the outside world, FRETILIN was feared in Washington and financed by Moscow.  Before FRETILIN could set up a stable government, Indonesia began preparing for non-violent solutions to the perceived problem of Timorese independence.  Indonesian leaders feared that allowing Timorese independence would inspire secessionist movements that could bring about the collapse of Indonesia.   

Ford and Kissinger believed that the Communists could not be allowed to make any further advances in the post-Vietnam War era, as they had in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Angola, and the Middle East.  Ford gave Suharto a green-light to invade East Timor.<ref>http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB62/#doc4</ref>  Ford was unambiguous: "We will understand and will not press you on the issue.  We understand the problem and the intentions you have."

Ford and Kissinger believed that the Communists could not be allowed to make any further advances in the post-Vietnam War era, as they had in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Angola, and the Middle East.  Ford gave Suharto a green-light to invade East Timor.<ref>http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB62/#doc4</ref>  Ford was unambiguous: "We will understand and will not press you on the issue.  We understand the problem and the intentions you have."

A Truth Commission found that 89-214,000 Timorese out of more than 700,000 were killed during the 24-year occupation, about 3/4 of them by Indonesian forces.<ref>http://www.ictj.org/en/news/features/846.html</ref>  Portuguese authorities estimated a population of 609,000 Timorese in 1970; based on later censuses from the Catholic Church, the population grew at 3% per year (which is in line with all the other countries of South East Asia; [[Cambodia]]'s grew at a rate of 2.9% per year at the same time despite being in the midst of a bloody civil war that killed hundreds of thousands; the Church estimates actually undercounted the population size by at least 5% on average, according to the Portuguese, due to the Church's incomplete access to society).<ref>http://www.yale.edu/gsp/publications/KiernanRevised1.pdf</ref>  Projecting the population size for 1975 based on these findings, we arrive at a total of roughly 700,000.  This is extrapolated from Church statistics that were, on average, 5% too low; accounting for that deficiency, we arrive at a more precise 735,368.  Since all censuses tend to be undercounts, we could, finally, raise this figure to a rough 750,000.  The mid-value of the plausible range established by the Truth Commission is 152,000 dead (Kiernan notes that one can "throw out" a figure of 200,000 or more, but that 150,000 "is likely close to the truth").<ref>http://www.yale.edu/gsp/publications/KiernanRevised1.pdf</ref>  If one extrapolates from the Truth Commission's finding that Indonesia was responsible for about 3/4 of all the violent killings in order to apportion blame for the remaining "excess" deaths; then Indonesia was responsible for killing 16.3% (one-sixth) of the Timorese population.  Due to the large number of deaths, these atrocities are commonly referred to as a genocide.

A Truth Commission found that 89-214,000 Timorese out of more than 700,000 were killed during the 24-year occupation, about 3/4 of them by Indonesian forces.<ref>http://www.ictj.org/en/news/features/846.html</ref>  Portuguese authorities estimated a population of 609,000 Timorese in 1970; based on later censuses from the Catholic Church, the population grew at 3% per year (which is in line with all the other countries of South East Asia; [[Cambodia]]'s grew at a rate of 2.9% per year at the same time despite being in the midst of a bloody civil war that killed hundreds of thousands; the Church estimates actually undercounted the population size by at least 5% on average, according to the Portuguese, due to the Church's incomplete access to society).<ref>http://www.yale.edu/gsp/publications/KiernanRevised1.pdf</ref>  Projecting the population size for 1975 based on these findings, we arrive at a total of roughly 700,000.  The mid-value of the plausible range established by the Truth Commission is 152,000 dead (Kiernan notes that one can "throw out" a figure of 200,000 or more, but that 150,000 "is likely close to the truth") but the most exact census suggested a 1980 population of 560,000.<ref>http://www.yale.edu/gsp/publications/KiernanRevised1.pdf</ref> Accounting for population growth during the years of mass killing, then, the number of "missing" Timorese was most probably about 175,000. If one extrapolates from the Truth Commission's finding that Indonesia was responsible for about 3/4 of all the violent killings in order to apportion blame for the remaining "excess" deaths; then Indonesia was responsible for killing 18% (nearly one-fifth) of the Timorese population.  Due to the large number of deaths, these atrocities are commonly referred to as a genocide.

==References==

==References==