=?unknown-8bit?Q?Jos?= =?unknown-8bit?Q?=E9?= Ramos-Horta: East Timor & Iraq

Seth Kulick skulick at linc.cis.upenn.edu
Wed Feb 26 12:41:06 PST 2003



> Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2003 21:53:39 -0600
> From: "Peter K." <peterk.enteract at rcn.com>
> Subject: José Ramos-Horta: East Timor & Iraq


> http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/25/opinion/25HORT.html


> War for Peace? It Worked in My Country
> By JOSÉ RAMOS-HORTA
> February 25, 2003

[...]


> But I still acutely remember the suffering and misery brought about by war. It would certainly be a
> better world if war were not necessary. Yet I also remember the desperation and anger I felt when
> the rest of the world chose to ignore the tragedy that was drowning my people. We begged a foreign
> power to free us from oppression, by force if necessary.

[...]

What exactly is he talking about? What "foreign power" did they beg to use force if necessary? Is there any record of him asking the Soviet Union or whoever to bomb Indonesia since there was no other way of overthrowing Suharto? Wouldn't this be a more correct analogy than comparing a peace-keeping force to the U.S. attack on Iraq? Sure, they're both "force", but not exactly the same thing.

Also, he could have at least mentioned the solidarity movement, instead of just saying it was "war for peace".

Compare Ramos-Horta's piece to the following, taken from the East Timor Action Network page. I have no idea which view is more representative of the people of East Timor.

----------------------

Statement presented to the United States, United Kingdom and

Australian embassies in Dili, East Timor, 15 February 2003

Hapara Funu - Stop War

The impending war between the United States (with a few supporters)

and Iraq is a matter of global concern, and we, the people of East

Timor, like so many people everywhere in the world, want to make our

voices heard.

The government of the United States (with support from Great Britain

and Australia) is leading the charge for war against Iraq. These three

governments have helped East Timors independence since 1999 but from

1975 until 1999 they supported the brutal Indonesian military

occupation of this country, supplying weapons and training to the

Indonesian army to better enable it to kill and torture the East

Timorese people.

There is no moral principle in their current desire to overthrow

Saddam Hussein, which will create massive casualties among Iraqi

civilians and others, when they felt no compulsion to overthrow

Suharto, who was at least as bloody and brutal as Hussein. We believe

that the real reason for this call for war is OIL not Saddam Hussein,

international terrorism, or weapons of mass destruction. The United

States, like many other governments that now want to overthrow Saddam

Hussein, supported this same Saddam Hussein when his policies on oil

were profitable for their companies.

Suhartos dictatorship was eventually ousted by the Indonesian people,

who accomplished regime change through largely peaceful means. The

people of East Timor made our own regime change through the Popular

Consultation. In both cases, international support was mostly

nonviolent and always defensive, never targeting civilians.

As every East Timorese knows, the Indonesian invasion of this country

resulted in massive civilian casualties and destruction. Yet, during

24 years of illegal occupation, neither East Timors resistance nor any

foreign government advocated invading Indonesia or attacking

Indonesian civilians. The Indonesian people, like the East Timorese,

were victims of Suharto, not to be punished for his crimes.

Likewise, the people of Iraq, living under Saddams repression, are not

his co-conspirators. An invasion of Iraq would kill even more Iraqi

civilians, on top of hundreds of thousands who have already died from

the decade-long embargo. The decision about who should govern Iraq is

one for the people of Iraq to make, not foreign governments although

those governments can provide nonmilitary help, if requested by the

Iraqi population.

The United Nations is dealing effectively with the dangers of Iraqs

possible weapons of mass destruction, and we urge all governments

especially Iraq and the United States to cooperate with its

multilateral process, and to use every chance for negotiation and

compromise.

After 25 years of war, the people of East Timor want peace not only

for ourselves, but for the whole world. East Timor is a small and new

nation, but we know quite a lot about the death and destruction that

come with war, and we dont want to see similar destruction anywhere.

Therefore, the civil society organizations signed below, joined by

many, urge all governments to respect the decisions of the United

Nations, and not to take the law, or the war, into their own hands.

Human life is too precious to be wasted for political or economic

profit.

Dili, East Timor, 15th February 2003

International Day Against the War in Iraq

Sah'e Institute for Liberation

Lao Hamutuk (The East Timor Institute for Reconstruction Monitoring

and Analysis)

Perhimpunan HAK (Association for Law, Rights and Justice)

Fokupers (East Timor Womens Communications Forum)

Haburas (Green environmental organization)

Asosiasaun Mane Kontra Violensia (Mens Association Against Violence)

Judicial System Monitoring Programme

Fortilos (Indonesian Forum for East Timor Solidarity)

Renetil (National East Timor Student Resistance)

Leziaval

see also Dili Anti-War Protest, Feb. 15

_________________________________________________________________

The East Timor Institute for Reconstruction Monitoring and Analysis

1a Rua Mozambique, Farol, Dili, Timor Lorosae

P.O. Box 340, Dili, East Timor (via Darwin, Australia)

Tel: +670(390)325013 or +61(408)811373

email: laohamutuk at easttimor.minihub.org

Web: http://www.etan.org/lh



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