Spawn of the CIA and a Son of Suharto

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx35KRYbf1g

Prabowo is actually the former son-in-law of Suharto, the Indonesian dictator who came to power in the 1960's by means of a genocide – one encouraged and backed by the United States. Not a few in Washington wished Vietnam could have gone the way of Indonesia. The US lost Vietnam though millions would also die in Indochina.

In Indonesia about a million died under Suharto's ousting of Sukarno for his crime of being non-aligned and for tolerating communists. Supposedly it was communists who were massacred but as in all such episodes far more uninvolved and completely innocent end up perishing. The US supplied lists, logistics, and diplomatic cover and would continue to do so until Suharto's ousting in the late 1990's.

But long before this he was given the 'green light' under Ford (and Kissinger) to invade East Timor in 1975. This incident was connected with the end of Portugal's fascistic dictatorship by means of the Carnation Revolution in 1974. This would lead to new chapters of war in Guinea, Angola and Mozambique – and the genocide in East Timor. Under Suharto, about one-third of the population would be killed. East Timor would finally break free of Indonesia in 1999 – just after Suharto's ouster.

Though numerically far less than some of the other famous genocides and massacres of the twentieth century, in terms of proportions this is only exceeded by the Jewish Holocaust under the Nazis. The 2-300,000 dead in tiny East Timor is a great crime that has been largely forgotten. And even more critically it was fully backed by the United States.

Prabowo who stands poised to become president of Indonesia was a commander during the early years of occupation and responsible for massacres and other war crimes. Serving also in the Papua Conflict, Prabowo trained in the United States and clearly was reckoned an asset by both the Pentagon and Langley. He clearly thought so.

And he still is as his recent moves as Defense Minister have indicated he's more or less ready to go 'all in' with Washington and restore the relationship that waned after Suharto's ouster in 1998. The US has been courting Indonesia for some time and Prabowo is exactly the kind of authoritarian nationalist (and thus anti-China) leader they want to see. He will buy weapons and allow the US to operate from Indonesian soil. His rhetoric sometimes smacks of triangulation and he has at times reached out to China, but recent moves suggest he's preparing to align with his old friends in Washington.

And you can be sure his past crimes will be swept under the rug and the US will look the other way when it comes to any human rights violations or authoritarian abuses of democracy. It's nothing new. This is but the next chapter in preparation for the coming conflict with China and yet it also represents another instance of US hypocrisy on display – for all the world to see. The US trained this monster and then when he was no longer needed at the end of the Cold War, they banned him from traveling to the US for two decades. So it was with many of his type and not a few dictators as well. In the 1990's Washington 'cleaned house' and attempted to erase its previous alliances and record of atrocities. The US stood by Suharto for a season but his time had come to end and so he was ousted and the US wanted to erase that chapter of history. There's still a great deal of classified info related to the 1960's slaughter. The praetorians will want to make sure that story never gets out.

But now that Prabowo is needed, all is well. The Trump administration invited him to Washington (as the Indonesian Defense Minister) and Biden has continued to extend the American hand.

Nairn has been reporting on Indonesia for decades and his comments are always worthy of consideration. We'll wait and see what Prabowo does with the office. He has wanted to be president for a very long time and if he follows through on the rhetoric he's been spouting for decades, then Indonesia must prepare for a shake-up.