The right thing to do in East Timor<\/p>\n
If there is not an end to the slaughter in East Timor, the
\ninternational community must bring its combined pressure to bear
\non Jakarta to step aside and allow an international peacekeeping
\nforce to reestablish order. If it resists, economic sanctions
\ncould be imposed to force Jakarta's hand.<\/p>\n
The badly damaged Indonesian economy is vulnerable to the
\nwithdrawal of Western aid, and Australia and the United States
\nare already threatening to cut off their bilateral assistance.<\/p>\n
For the moment, most talk along these lines are mere threats;
\nthe Western countries are well aware of the debilitating effects
\nof a destabilized Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is the world's fourth most populous country with a
\npopulation of 220 million, and its thousands of islands straddle
\none of the most strategic waterways in the world. There are also
\nworries about weakening President B.J. Habibie, who has shown a
\ncommitment to democracy and political reform and has taken the
\ncountry through a recent general election.<\/p>\n
But as it stands, things are largely in the hands of the
\nIndonesian military. They appear to have trained and armed the
\nanti-independence militias and set them loose, and have joined
\nthem in the bloodbath, partly to set an example to other
\nproindependence-minded people not to follow the lead of the East
\nTimorese.<\/p>\n
The military will be making a serious error of judgment if it
\nthinks it can engineer a genocide in East Timor and get away with
\nit. And even if the crack troops sent in by General Wiranto, the
\nmilitary chief and defense minister, to restore order are
\nsuccessful, Indonesia's troubles will be far from over.<\/p>\n
It is in Indonesia's best interest to stop the killing now,
\nallow international peacekeepers in and keep to the agreement to
\ngrant East Timor its independence.<\/p>\n
-- The Bangkok Post<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/the-right-thing-to-do-in-east-timor-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }