Though well respected, Mr. Alatas represented Indonesia when its government was tainted by atrocities carried out during the 24-year occupation of East Timor, which ended in 1999, most notably a massacre of civilians by troops in 1991.

That attack — captured on video by a British filmmaker — deeply damaged efforts to put Indonesia in a good light, Mr. Alatas told Tempo Magazine in 2000. He said that even “countries that formerly supported us were shocked.” (more…)

Still, it didn’t stop Clinton from providing arms to Suharto for his entire time in office. During testimony before Congress following East Timor’s independence in 2002, Clinton (in a very condescending way) argued that rummaging through his Presidential record on Indonesia’s genocidal occupation is “look[ing] backward“.

• BROWSE / IN TIMELINE
• « This is Zionism
• » Rumsfeld’s Legacy

• BROWSE / IN Clinton, Bill East Timor Indonesia War Crimes
• « Previous Post
• » Chris Hedges: Israel’s ‘Crime Against Humanity’