Rogue Elements

Thursday, Sept. 9, 1999 -- HONG KONG -- As this was being written, the news broke that the father of East Timor independence leader of Xanana Gusmao has been murdered. His mother is missing. 

So, Indonesian government spokeswoman Dewi Fortuna Anwar has now conceded that "rogue elements" of the Indonesian Army are "possibly" behind the well-organised slaughter and expulsion of pro-independence East Timorese from the violence-wracked former Portuguese colony.  Sounds like Jakarta is satisfied its efforts to completely de-rail plans for a hand-over of power in East Timor have achieved their objective, and they are now looking for some not-so-well-connected general to offer up as a scapegoat.

The spokeswoman says that the office of President B.J. Habibie had no prior knowledge of what has turned out to be a terribly well-coordinated "organised-chaos" of murder, burning, looting and forced expulsion. Foreign Minister Ali Alatas admits that there are elements of the military that are not responding to government directives - units that are "out of control." But with these admissions also comes a flat and outright rejection by the Indonesian government of a United Nations peacekeeping force being inserted into the territory to restore order. And the United Nations, gentlemen and ladies that they are, always respect the wishes of a member state when they say no. Unless, of course, they are not major trading partners--Yugoslavia, for example. 

When the latest crisis began shortly after an overwhelming "pro-independence" vote, Jakarta rejected proposals of a UN peacekeeping force, saying the police and Indonesian Army would crush troublemakers and contain the unrest. They didn't, and there was ample evidence that the military was actually coordinating the militia attacks. As international condemnation grew, Jakarta again rejected a peacekeeping force, saying they would impose martial law and bring the situation under control. They did impose martial law and sent in thousands of extra troops--but the murder, looting and forced expulsions didn't stop. It got worse. Just how far up the governmental and military administration structure does the "rogue element" reach? 

What little faith I have in the integrity of the United Nations--and I mean little--would be completely trashed if the Security Council buy into this "rogue element" fiction. Let's be realistic.  A few rogue units could not possibly have sustained this terror campaign for so long--and remember, the militia atrocities began months ago, long before the autonomy/independence poll--without the tacit approval of officials at the highest level in Jakarta. The level of coordination necessary to provide ships and aircraft to support the thousands of troops and make available the means for the mass expulsion of pro-independence East Timorese is well beyond the capabilities of a few "rogue elements."

Last week I suggested some measures that the international community could have taken against Indonesia: freezing the personal assets of Indonesian politicians and military leaders, the expulsion of Indonesian military attaches, and the insertion of commando units to secure strategic positions in East Timor. Since I wrote last week's column can anyone even begin to guess how many East Timorese have been slaughtered or forced from their homes? 

None of my suggestions would have provoked any sort of major crisis. Protests yes, but crisis, no. And I am humble enough to admit they may not even have had any effect on the situation on the ground in East Timor. But I still believe those measures would have had more impact on events than:

UN: Excuse me Mr. Genocide, Sir, er, would it be okay with you if we, er, send in a couple of thousand peacekeepers to stop you from murdering, raping, and looting?
Mr Genocide: Fuck off.
UN: Okay, if that is your attitude. You do know we might be able to impose sanctions that will hurt the poorest of your people while not having the slightest effect on your policies?
Mr Genocide: Fuck off.
UN: You really are being most unreasonable. You are making us look very ineffective. Our main members really don't want to upset you because of the lucrative trade deals we have with you. Look, can you help us out on this, make us look good, huh?
Mr Genocide: Fuck off.
UN: Okay, if that's the way you want it. We'll huff and puff and accept the first 'credible' lie you tell us. If it wasn't for the trade, you'd really be in for a thrashing, you know that don't you? 

Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975. Kosovo has been part of Serbia for hundreds of years. 

Serbia allowed Kosovo a high degree of autonomy, whereupon the Kosovo Albanians made the minority Serbs second class citizens in their own country.

Indonesia never offered the East Timorese autonomy. After invading them, they just killed them. 

Until this year, there were no United Nations resolutions condemning Serbia for its illegal occupation of Kosovo. The list of resolutions against Indonesia is long, very, very long. 

NATO and the United Nations told Serbia that if they didn't accept terms, they would be attacked with overwhelming force.

The United Nations is still asking Indonesia for permission to enter East Timor to stop the killing. Or else. No, there is no "or else."

In the past few minutes it has been revealed that the International Monetary Fund may suspend payments of one of the biggest bail-out packages in history to one of the most dictatorial regimes in South East Asian history.

This threat wasn't made against Serbia--they were already suffering the effects of sanctions. 

Parallels? 

In the early days of the Kosovo conflict Serbia was accused of murdering some of the leaders of the Kosovo independence movement. These claims were subsequently proved false. In fact, the Kosovo Liberation Army were responsible for the killing of several moderate Kosovar leaders. It has also just been reported that the military backed pro-Jakarta thugs in East Timor have murdered the father of Xanana Gusmao. Gusmao's mother is still missing. 

Parallels? If there is a parallel, the only question I have is: when do we start bombing?