"Humanitarian invervention" in E.Timor?

[Rakesh Bhandari]

Dear Angela,
As I understand you (and please do clarify if I have misread you), you are
arguing that the Indonesian military (or some powerful faction) is
threatening a coup if not allowed to invade East Timor. The US has and will
turn a blind eye to the slaughterous invasion in order to allow the
congenial Habibie to stay in place. Is this what you are suggesting? If so,
it seems that the US can hardly trust the Indonesian military that it will
not overthrow Habibie who seems very vulnerable.  I can't imagine that the
US will not want to be in a position to provide info, support and logistics
(Joseph Nye's soft power) to its allies (either Habibie or some friendly
faction w/i the military) and that Japan won't pay a hefty sum for the US
provision of regional security (at the very least holding on to US
securities). I would imagine that the US is looking to come out ahead in
this just as it did monetarily gain from the Gulf War at the beginning of
the decade after collecting from its 'allies'.

Yours, Rakesh