East Timor Genocide

The capitalistic ideals of everyday life in Western Societies are the same ideals,

It is very sad to realize just what greed can do to the world, and it is even more unfortunate to learn that a country like East Timor must be the victims of a capitalistic society’s greed. Why must 200,000 poor people of East Timor die so that a couple westerners can make a few million bucks? It shows just how fair the world has become, in fact it is almost barbaric when you uncover the basic facts and look at it in a simplistic way. How have we evolved from our barbaric natures of the past? In actuality we have not moved forward but in fact just been frozen in time. The societies might be more accepting and the technologies might be more advanced but the state of mind has yet to change. If people are wanting more money they are willing to do anything for that money even allow an entire country to be oppressed and slaughtered. It is times like these were we must examine the problems in society and try to foresee just how effective world trade is. Is world trade worth the riches it brings to western companies? Is it worth the death, the poverty, and the social detriment? It is important to know that a thing like East Timor would not be such a big tragedy had it not been for greed. To conclude, a passage from Noam Chomsky’s introduction in the book East Timor: Genocide in Paradise by: Matthew Jardine.

A prominent factor in the greed of America was located around its ability to create efficient propaganda. This was essential to cover up the atrocities of Indonesia. It was obvious the people of America should not know about what was happening in Indonesia or East Timor. If they were to find about such horror it would be much harder for the United States to continue such exclusive relationships with Indonesia. Today it has been exposed that the US based newspapers were whitewashing the massacre in Indonesia in instances, 65-66 and 75. Especially inaccurate was the New York Times in their reporting of the ’65 genocide, a genocide, which was depicted in a benign way. "Almost everyone is pleased by the changes being wrought," this was a comment made by C.L. Sulzberger of the New York Times (4/8/66) . Similar comments were made by other Times writers such as; “After a long period of patient diplomacy designed to help the army triumph over the Communists, and months of prudent silence...officials were elated to find their expectations being realized.” These obviously palliated words were written by Max Frankel who also wrote such things as “U.S. Is Heartened by Red Setback in Indonesia Coup.” What is the public supposed to expect? This propaganda is the words and letters they read everyday, it is what they are made to believe, that this obviously insane leader Suharto was actually a good man. The credibility of the Times is also questioned in 1990 as Kathy Kadane unveiled the proof that the American Embassy had given out lists of communist names during the 1965 genocide. The Times did not pick up her report and in fact ran a story to bash her and make her seem unreliable. It is still unknown why the Times decided to run a story. In media, the East Timor genocides were not considered bad, because a worthy client of Western Societies did them. Ironically the similar story of Pol Pot was gracing the headlines everyday, this i

Some topics in this essay:
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