December 10, 1992 the Other Press country run by a ruthlessly clear examples of blatant ples of international law; the ons and demanded the vereign territory of the or was greeted with very uwait would be fifteen years d disinterest on the part of mong those powerful enough powers felt the urge to kwater territority, which had ortant in and of itself (unlike d even to cut off the supply of a ian dictatorship.with the inte a potter: resolutions i in: Saree erful hs to prevent the UN. from nesia, as admitted quite readily ick Moynihan, U.S. he invasion. fagrant vio : or the)first few years om United Nations ncursion; from the early d against such resolutions, eople) complicit in one of the ountries have not behaved only country in the world to or. Other major powers n in sharp contrast to Kuwait, the offshore oat (in have also refused to take any action against the Indonesian aggressors. What, then, are the reasons for this extreme disparity in the world reaction to these two brutal invasions? Why did the Butcher of Baghdad become an international pariah and outcast, while the Butcher of Jakarta remains a respected world figure, courted by international dignitaries and heads of state? The answer lies, unfortunately, in self-interest. Simply put, for most of the countries of the world, maintaining good relations with the military dictatorship in Jakarta is a matter of higher priority than objecting to the brutal extermination of a sizable slice of the population of East Timor. Indonesia is one of the most richly-endowed nations, economically speaking, in Southeast Asia, with vast reserves of natural resources such as timber and natural gas. Indonesia has extensive trading links with many powerful countries, including Japan, the US, Germany, Canada, and many more. With a market of over 180 million people, as well as a vast pool of cheap labour, Indonesia provides one of the most lucrative investment climates in the Third World. Faced with such an economic bonanza, few countries are willing to jeopardize the good will of the Suharto regime by raising the “minor” issue of Timorese independance. The three Western countries with the largest foreign investments in Indonesia are the United States, Australia and Canada. By coincidence, these are the Western countries that have been the most reluctant to condemn Indonesia for the subjugation of East Timor, claiming that although the invasion may have been a trifle unpleasant, it is now an accomplished fact against which little can be done. Canada provides vast sums of taxpayer’s money to the Indonesian regime in the form of multilateral aid, above and beyond the investments that Canadian tions have in iad country. pa naeeee ee countries. __Ladonesia alsochas.crucial importa as well. During the Cold War, the straits between.h the. ae islands of the Indonesian archipela g6 i water Passages ‘Between the Pacific. am Indian Ovens, for commercial shipping, and for, military transports. For instance, the strait of Selat Ombai, just north of East Timor, allowed deep-water access for US nuclear submarines from Guam te the US naval base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. Soviet submarines, on the other hand, had to pass through the shallow and narrow Strait of Malacca, easily closed off by Indonesia. For this reason, as well as interest in their sharé: oft {hie economic bounty:in Indonesia, the Soviets f nest. PIN y quiet about the invasion of East Timor, an The other major power blocs of the world (China, India, Japan, Western Europe, the Gulf States, etc.) are also seeking closer economic ties to the Suharto regime, and have similar economic and strategic reasons to be careful of offending Indonesia. In the case of the Gulf States, besides the economic considerations (Saudi Arabia alone accounts i'strategic terms erwise provide a great opportunity for for 8% of Indonesia’s annual imports), there is a religious and cultural incentive as well: the desire not to offend a brother Muslim nation (Indonesia) in conflict with a primarily Christian enemy (East Timor). Accordingly, the conservative monarchies of the Persian Gulf area (including, in a twist of supreme irony, Kuwait) have been among the most vociferous defenders of the Indonesian invasion of East Timor. On November 12, 1991, the veil of secrecy that Indonesia had thrown over East Timor for the previous sixteen years slipped momentarily. On that day, Indonesian troops carried out a massacre of over 200 unarmed people attending a protest in a cemetary in Santa Cruz. In other words, a fairly typical day in the life of occupied East Timor, with one crucial exception: the event was captured on film by Western television reporters. The result was a brief but intense flurry of international attention and outrage. Even those governments that had been most complacent in the face of previous Indonesian atrocities had little choice but to condemn the massacre and to impose various punishments on the Suharto regime, including sanctions and suspensions of aid. Canada, for instance, announced the suspension of aid until the perpetrators of the killings were brought to justice. However, this outrage proved to be short-lived. Within a few months, after the glare of publicity had died down, most international aid to Indonesia was quietly restored. Canadian External Affairs Minister Barbara MacDougall, for instance, accepted at face value an internal investigation by the Indonesian military that largely absolved high-ranking officers of any wrongdoing. Canada now plans to give Indonesia an additional $46 million in aid this year. Meanwhile, many of the civilian victims who survived the massacre have since been sentenced to long prison terms for “disturbing the peace”; many have simply been executed. The Iraqi occupation of Kuwait is now a dim, distant memory, as is the hellish carnage of the Gulf War which ended. it, However, the gruesome occupation of East Timor continues to this day, unmitigated i in its cruelty and aris faa still the Cties. for me) from the victims abandonment of principie on the part of so many in positions of power in countriés: around the world, it would be easy for A dividual citizens to conchuidé hat there i is nothing they can é sibly do about this ongoing slaughter; Nothing could be \.Afirther from the truth. It is precisely because of the fear of public outrage that Western isles, corporations and media have so thorou in in which they are complicit ‘Were general public of countries like Canada or the United States aware of the uses to which their taxpayer’s dollars are being put in East Timor, they would not allow it to continue. If you want to make a difference for the people of East Timor, simply write your MP. Or, contact the East Timor Alert Network at #104, 2120 W. 44th, Vancouver, BC. (To get involved, phone Dave McMurran at 734-7088 or Joanna Gislasson at 669-8950).