East Timor dilemma<\/p>\n
When East Timor was \"annexed\" by Indonesian \"volunteers\" in
\n1975 hand in hand with the Fretilin-defeated UDT, I believe most
\nIndonesians at that time agreed to such a move. We have to
\nremember the situation when the Cold War was still going on, and
\nnobody would ever have wanted East Timor to become \"Cuba\" for
\nIndonesia, neither would the USA nor Australia. Portugal was at
\nthat time so immoral and irresponsible by leaving East Timor as
\nsuch without any effort at preparing the people to establish
\ntheir own entity.<\/p>\n
History might have been different had it not been the
\ncommunist-leaning Fretilin who had won the war. Indonesia, I
\nbelieve, would not have invaded East Timor if the United States
\nand Australia were not supportive of such an \"annexation\". It is
\ntrue that Fretilin was able to carry out a full-scale guerrilla
\nwar against Indonesia for over three years, but it does not
\nnecessarily mean that the majority of the East Timor people
\nagreed with Fretilin. The harsh and inhuman treatment of East
\nTimor by the tyrannical Soeharto regime might be to blame for the
\nunsupportive attitude of the East Timor people.<\/p>\n
Despite many hundreds of billions of rupiah poured into East
\nTimor since 1975, it has not won the hearts of all the East
\nTimorese if only because there were so many abuses of human
\nrights by the decades-long and corrupt Soeharto regime. Those
\nchoosing to integrate with Indonesia seem to have remained loyal,
\nbut I do not have any notion of a percentage.<\/p>\n
There are of course many who want to liberate their country
\nand establish an independent East Timor but how many they are
\nnobody knows. I also believe that there are many who do not care
\nabout integrating with Indonesia or being independent, as long as
\nthey can live prosperously and securely.<\/p>\n
Terry Russel should have taken this situation in mind when
\ncommenting on President Habibie's view on East Timor. In the
\ninternational forum Indonesia has always been blamed for the vast
\nhuman right abuses, and Portugal has acted as if it had not made
\nfatal mistakes.<\/p>\n
H.W. PIENANDORO<\/p>\n
Bogor, West Java<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/east-timor-dilemma-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }