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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.   

Although FRETILIN was given a chance to avoid war, it rejected it for the sake of martyrdom.  In an attempt to negotiate a settlement to the dispute over East Timor's future, the Portuguese Decolonization Commission convened a conference in June 1975 in Macau.  Indonesia apparently believed that it could reach a compromise with FRETILIN, and repeatedly attempted to do so.<ref>http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB62/doc4.pdf</ref> FRETILIN refused to attend the meeting on the grounds that it would never negotiate with the Indonesian regime, and Suharto  was apparently shocked by their intransigence.<ref>http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB62/doc4.pdf</ref>  José Manuel Ramos-Horta, the current President of East Timor and a FRETILIN leader, expressed regret for this failure in his 1987 memoirs.

Although FRETILIN was given a chance to avoid war, it rejected it for the sake of martyrdom.  In an attempt to negotiate a settlement to the dispute over East Timor's future, the Portuguese Decolonization Commission convened a conference in June 1975 in Macau.  Indonesia apparently believed that it could reach a compromise with FRETILIN, and repeatedly attempted to do so.<ref>http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB62/doc4.pdf</ref> FRETILIN refused to attend the meeting on the grounds that it would never negotiate with the Indonesian regime, and Suharto  was apparently shocked by their intransigence.<ref>http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB62/doc4.pdf</ref>  José Manuel Ramos-Horta, the current President of East Timor and a former FRETELIN supporter, has condemned FRETELIN for its percieved violence and fanaticism.

Many claim in retrospect that FRETILIN only sought independence for East Timor, and that the civil war was provoked by a failed coup by right-wing militarists, and not by FRETILIN.  Others note that FRETILIN gained power by force and used the military to enforce its edicts, and that 40,000 Timorese fled their homes to escape their repression.<ref>http://www.paulbogdanor.com/chomsky/labedz.pdf</ref>  Further, during the bloody Indonesian occupation, as many as 49% of all East Timorese civilians violently killed at any given point were murdered by FRETILIN, and not by Indonesia.<ref>http://greatersurbiton.wordpress.com/2008/01/14/is-it-really-true-that-east-timor-was-worse-than-bosnia-or-kosovo/</ref>   

Many claim in retrospect that FRETILIN only sought independence for East Timor, and that the civil war was provoked by a failed coup by right-wing militarists, and not by FRETILIN.  Others note that FRETILIN gained power by force and used the military to enforce its edicts, and that 40,000 Timorese fled their homes to escape their repression.<ref>http://www.paulbogdanor.com/chomsky/labedz.pdf</ref>  Further, during the bloody Indonesian occupation, as many as 49% of all East Timorese civilians violently killed at any given point were murdered by FRETILIN, and not by Indonesia.<ref>http://greatersurbiton.wordpress.com/2008/01/14/is-it-really-true-that-east-timor-was-worse-than-bosnia-or-kosovo/</ref>