5 ms·

Could you please point out which genocide are you talking about?

andrepd 6y ago
I will talk about one in particular which hits close to home, since I have people in my extended family which were killed there. The genocide in Timor-Leste, which killed 150,000 to 200,000 people. If that doesn't seem that much at first glance, the population of Timor in 1975 was 688,000. That invasion was: approved or even suggested by the US (Kissinger and Ford met with Suharto on the eve of the invasion to give the OK), financed* by the US, with troops trained by the US and armed by the US. The reason? The people of that small, freshly liberated country were on the verge of holding their first democratic elections, and dangerously close to choosing a left-wing party to govern them, of their own free will. That being said perusing his wikipedia page should give you many things to read about.
- walrus01 6y ago
  I am not sure how many Americans are even aware of how extensively the USA supported Suharto militarily, no matter what he did, because he was supposedly anti communist.
  - DubiousPusher 6y ago
    As well as Pinochet, the Contras and Trujillo among others.
    - walrus01 6y ago
      Also Noriega, until he grew a bit too big of an ego and decided to start doing things without checking with his handlers first. And of course Zia al-Haq in Pakistan.
- rumanator 6y ago
  So your biggest complain about Kissinger is that he didn't opposed the initiative of a foreign country to invade and assassinate civilians of a smaller neighboring country?
  - pessimizer 6y ago
    This isn't in good faith; just look up Kissinger's foreign policy controversies and explain how he was just following orders or being rational, rather than waiting for other people to name them one at a time and saying "Just that? That's your biggest complaint?" Especially to a person who personally had family members murdered because of those decisions. The day before the massacres: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kissinger,_Ford,_Suharto_and_Malik_(cropped).jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kissinger,_Ford,_Suharto_... https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2020/05/18/how-jakarta-became-the-codeword-for-us-backed-mass-killing/ https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2020/05/18/how-jakarta-became-...
  - andrepd 6y ago
    Man you could have told me you were flamebaiting, it would have saved me the trouble to type that.
    - rumanator 6y ago
      It's not flamebaiting or anything of the sort. Your origin thesis is that Kissinger is worse than people who engaged in genocide. I've asked you to substantiate your claims, and the best example you've managed to come up with is Indonesia's invasion of East Timor, which was not perpetrated by the US, let alone ordered by Kissinger. Don't you agree that even the best example that you've managed to come up with amounts to no action at all from Kissinger?

I will talk about one in particular which hits close to home, since I have people in my extended family which were killed there. The genocide in Timor-Leste, which killed 150,000 to 200,000 people. If that doesn't seem that much at first glance, the population of Timor in 1975 was 688,000. That invasion was: approved or even suggested by the US (Kissinger and Ford met with Suharto on the eve of the invasion to give the OK), financed* by the US, with troops trained by the US and armed by the US. The reason? The people of that small, freshly liberated country were on the verge of holding their first democratic elections, and dangerously close to choosing a left-wing party to govern them, of their own free will. That being said perusing his wikipedia page should give you many things to read about.

walrus01 6y ago
I am not sure how many Americans are even aware of how extensively the USA supported Suharto militarily, no matter what he did, because he was supposedly anti communist.
- DubiousPusher 6y ago
  As well as Pinochet, the Contras and Trujillo among others.
  - walrus01 6y ago
    Also Noriega, until he grew a bit too big of an ego and decided to start doing things without checking with his handlers first. And of course Zia al-Haq in Pakistan.
rumanator 6y ago
So your biggest complain about Kissinger is that he didn't opposed the initiative of a foreign country to invade and assassinate civilians of a smaller neighboring country?
- pessimizer 6y ago
  This isn't in good faith; just look up Kissinger's foreign policy controversies and explain how he was just following orders or being rational, rather than waiting for other people to name them one at a time and saying "Just that? That's your biggest complaint?" Especially to a person who personally had family members murdered because of those decisions. The day before the massacres: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kissinger,_Ford,_Suharto_and_Malik_(cropped).jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kissinger,_Ford,_Suharto_... https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2020/05/18/how-jakarta-became-the-codeword-for-us-backed-mass-killing/ https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2020/05/18/how-jakarta-became-...
- andrepd 6y ago
  Man you could have told me you were flamebaiting, it would have saved me the trouble to type that.
  - rumanator 6y ago
    It's not flamebaiting or anything of the sort. Your origin thesis is that Kissinger is worse than people who engaged in genocide. I've asked you to substantiate your claims, and the best example you've managed to come up with is Indonesia's invasion of East Timor, which was not perpetrated by the US, let alone ordered by Kissinger. Don't you agree that even the best example that you've managed to come up with amounts to no action at all from Kissinger?