On October 16th, 1975 Indonesia invaded a bordering country named East Timor. "Indonesian rule in East Timor was marked by extreme violence and brutality. It has been claimed that during the invasion and 27-year occupation, 100,000 to 250,000 people were killed in an initial population of about 600,000 at the time of the invasion".(1), (2)
During the 1970s, the US Government sold arms to Indonesia. (3) After the invasion, the US government continued to support Indonesia with the sales of arms to Indonesia. In fact, the US Governemnt decided to sale more arms to Indonesia after the invasion took place. Furthermore, "US officials were aware of the invasion plans nearly a year in advance. They adopted a "policy of silence" and even sought to suppress news and discussions on East Timor, including credible reports of Indonesia's massacres of Timorese civilians". (4) In a private meeting on the subject of East Timor, Henry Kissinger asked, "I'm assuming you're really going to keep your mouth shut on this subject" (the genocide being carried out by Indonesia at the time).(5), (6). The violence continued in the Clinton years. In fact during the Clinton years (with Clinton's knowledge) the US trained Indonesian death squads. (7)
