The demand that the US cease military aid has been long advanced by those who have been involved in the solidarity with the East Timorese. Here's a message from one such person:
> Subj: A Message from East Timor
> Date: 9/5/99 9:37:45 AM Eastern Daylight Time
> From: JohnM85747
>
> John's Message from East Timor
> (Please redistribute widely)
>
> There are the makings of a bloodbath here. Many have fled. Many have
>died. I can see smoke of fires of homes set ablaze in the distance. I
>have heard gunfire in the distance. The Indonesian military and its
>creation the militias have refused to accept the democratically
>expressed wish of the East Timorese to move towards independence.
>
> I have seen East Timorese defy militia and military violence to go
>vote on August 30 and I have seen their fearful faces. Several days ago,
>the women hosting us in Becora (just outside Dili) received an early
>morning phone call and woke us at 4:30 am to tell us we had to move out
>of where were staying for our own safety. I have since heard reports of
>many houses burned and people killed in that neighborhood. Another Dili
>neighborhood I spent time in, Balide, next to the U.N.'s East Timor
>headquarters is ablaze. Timor Aid, the organization which provided
>assistance to the parliamentary delegation I worked with to monitor the
>ballot has been looted of its rice and ransacked. There have also been
>many reports of people being forced onto vehicles and taken to West
>Timor, perhaps to bolster an argument for East Timor's partition or
>worse.
>
> There have been many calls for U.N. or other peacekeepers. These may
>arrive too late. More guns aren't necessarily what East Timor needs.
>What is very clear is that the military could shut down the violence
>relatively quickly. The military is in control. It is they that can stop
>the killing.
>
> The U.S. and other governments still have tremendous leverage with
>Indonesia. They must use it all. Statements of serious "consequences." I
>saw President Clinton's mealy-mouthed statement and it doesn't go nearly
>far enough. The global community - governments, others, you - must be
>clear about what these consequences are to let the Indonesian military
>know that continued violence in East Timor is unacceptable.
>
> Please contact President Clinton and members of Congress now. Urge
>them to immediately
> a) suspend all military shipments to Indonesia, including spare parts
>and ammunition
> b) suspend all non-humanitarian bi-lateral aid and loans to Indonesia
> c) work to suspend all multi-lateral loans and aid, including form the
>IMF and World Bank.
>
> Call the White House comment line at 202-456-1414. Urge President
>Clinton to immediately suspend all further military and financial aid to
>Indonesia until the military and paramilitary violence is stopped. The
>U.S. must show strong support for East Timor's democratic decision to
>break away from Indonesia.
>
> Sept. 5, 1999
> Dili, East Timor
Yoshie