SkipCaptcha, Automoderated users, edit
703
edits
Changes
no edit summary
| dictatordate =12 March 1967 (Official Date)
| dictatordate =12 March 1967 (Official Date)
| war =Invasion of East Timor
| war =Invasion of East Timor
| deathnumber =Post-Coup Purges: 250-750,000 East Timor: 152,000 of whom at least 3/4 were the responsibility of Indonesia (Truth Commission)
| deathnumber =Post-Coup Purges: 250-750,000 East Timor: Slightly over 85,000 (based on UN report and Cribb
}}
)}}
'''Suharto''' (June 8, 1921 - January 27, 2008) was an anti-communist [[Indonesia]]n [[military]] and [[political]] leader. He started as a military officer in the Indonesian National Revolution. He came to power following a bloodless [[coup]] in 1967, and served as the second President of Indonesia from 1967-1998 during which time he was involved in a number of massacres aimed at eliminating communists in Indonesia<ref>[http://dannyreviews.com/h/Suharto.html Suhato: A Political Biography], be R.E. Elson</ref>. He was forced to resign his presidency in 1998 after mass demonstrations due to his [[authoritarian]] and corrupt administration. He passed away on January 27th, 2008.
'''Suharto''' (June 8, 1921 - January 27, 2008) was an anti-communist [[Indonesia]]n [[military]] and [[political]] leader. He started as a military officer in the Indonesian National Revolution. He came to power following a bloodless [[coup]] in 1967, and served as the second President of Indonesia from 1967-1998 during which time he was involved in a number of massacres aimed at eliminating communists in Indonesia<ref>[http://dannyreviews.com/h/Suharto.html Suhato: A Political Biography], be R.E. Elson</ref>. He was forced to resign his presidency in 1998 after mass demonstrations due to his [[authoritarian]] and corrupt administration. He passed away on January 27th, 2008.
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 90,800-213,600 Timorese out of more than 700,000 were killed during the 24-year occupation, namely, 17,600-19,600 killings and 73,200 to 194,000 'excess' deaths from hunger and illness, although Indonesian forces were responsible for only about 3/4 of the violent killings.<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, 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 probably about 175,000. Accepting a growth rate higher than 1% during the genocide, or accepting a lower 1980 population, would only yield a higher total. This is 25% of the Timorese population. Due to the large number of deaths, these atrocities are commonly referred to as a genocide. Indonesia killed many thousands more throughout the remainder of the occupation.
A Truth Commission found that 90,800-213,600 Timorese out of more than 700,000 were killed during the 24-year occupation, namely, 17,600-19,600 killings and 73,200 to 194,000 'excess' deaths from hunger and illness, although Indonesian forces were responsible for only about 3/4 of the violent killings.<ref>http://www.ictj.org/en/news/features/846.html</ref>
Indonesia scholar Robert Cribb argues that the toll was significantly exaggerated. He notes that the Church censuses of the population were likely to be far too low, given that less than 50% of the population was Catholic. Further, given the immense incentive the Timorese had to avoid detection by the Indonesians, the 1980 census that counted 555,350 Timorese, although "the most reliable source of all," was probably a ''minimum'' rather than a maximum estimate. "It is worth recalling that hundreds of thousands of East Timorese disappeared during the violence of September 1999, only to reappear later," he writes. The 1980 census becomes more improbable in the face of the 1987 census that counted 657,411 Timorese--this would require a growth rate of 2.5% per year, nearly identical to the very high growth rate in East Timor from 1970 to 1975, and a highly unlikely one given the conditions of the brutal occupation, including Indonesian efforts to discourage reproduction. This not only suggests that the 1980 count of 555,350 Timorese is far too low, but that the estimate of 425,000--which would require a 7% growth rate from 1980 to 1987--is inconceivable. With these factors in mind, according to Cribb, there are no more than 150,000 "missing" Timorese. Because Indonesian policies restricted the birth rate by 25-50%, he calculates that 42-65,000 of those "missing" were in fact not born rather than killed. Noting the lack of personal accounts of atrocities or of traumatized Indonesian soldiers, he further adds that East Timor "does not appear--on the basis of news reports and academic accounts--to be a society traumatized by mass death...the circumstance leading up to the Dili massacre of 1991...indicate a society which retained its vigor and indignation in a way which would probably not have been possible if it had been treated as Cambodia was treated under [[Pol Pot]]." Even Indonesian military strategy was based on winning the "hearts and minds" of the population, a fact that does not support charges of mass killing. Considering all this data, Cribb argues for a much lower toll of 100,000 or less, with an absolute minimum of 60,000, and a mere tenth of the population dying unnaturally, for the years 1975-80.<ref>http://works.bepress.com/robert_cribb/2/</ref><ref>http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=robert_cribb</ref> Based on the findings of the UN, Cribb was actually ''overestimating'' the death toll from violence; however, the UN's less precise figures for "excess deaths"--73,200 or more--are either in line with or notably higher than Cribb's.
Based on this, the UN's low of 90,000 seems the most plausible figure, although it includes several thousand killed by FRETELIN.
Far-leftists would later inflate the figure to 150,000, then 200,000, then 250,000, then 300,000, then 400,000--with no regard to basic demographic realities!
==References==
==References==