Read more about RI-U.S. relations

Read more about RI-U.S. relations

Unfortunately the letter by Mr. Karl Fritz, Press Attache at
the U.S. Embassy (The Jakarta Post, Jan. 18, 2000: Indonesia and
the U.S.), in response to my article (the Post, Jan. 13 and Jan.
14: The U.S.: A party to mass murder) comes across as little more
than a public relations exercise rather than any serious attempt
to establish the truth. Rather than trying to rebut the numerous
facts contained in my article, Mr. Fritz, rather suspiciously,
has tried instead to cajole the reader with phrases such as
"Sophisticated readers will quickly recognize (my article) as an
inaccurate, distorted attempt to discredit the U.S." And more
crudely he stops just short of labeling me a communist by stating
that my writing is "curiously reminiscent of Cold War
disinformation".

Mr. Karl Fritz has obviously not read much about Indonesian-
American relations himself, for if he had he would know that, to
the great credit of American society, there are a number of very
eminent "American scholars" who hold very similar views to mine
about the heinous activities of the C.I.A. The agency's crimes
against humanity, not only in Indonesia but also in other parts
of the world, are now quite well documented.

The only, perhaps, surprising fact is that no C.I.A. director
has yet been indicted by an international court for those crimes.
In my view such an indictment is essential if the complete truth
is to be arrived at. I wonder whether Mr. Fritz and the American
Embassy are quite as keen as I to reveal the truth through such a
process.

While there is plenty of evidence to show that America has
been far from a "reliable friend" to the people of Indonesia,
there are increasingly more signs nowadays that it is more
sincere in wanting to be such a friend. Provided the U.S. intends
to match words with deeds then these recent statements by Richard
Holbrooke, U.S. Ambassador to the UN, are indeed encouraging:
"Any (Indonesian) officers thinking of military adventurism have
forgotten that we are now in the 21st century", and "I want to
say clearly that the U.S. government at every level, from the
President, the secretary of state and myself, all stand firmly to
the fact that the military is risking doing massive damage to
Indonesia by continuing to attempt to thwart the efforts of
President Wahid, Attorney General Marzuki Darusman and other
leaders".

However, the empowerment of the Indonesian people through the
development of democracy is much more likely to succeed if the
truth about the past is widely known. Only then will Indonesia
have a more solid foundation for democracy to prosper, through a
proper assessment of the role and influence of key players in
events over the past four decades in particular. If the U.S.
truly wishes to be a "reliable friend" then it must be seen to
welcome public debate and the truth that will eventually lead to
the greater empowerment of the Indonesian people to effect
changes in their own lives.

FRANK RICHARDSON

Jakarta