Monday, January 28, 2008



No tears for Suharto

So, Suharto is dead. As with other despots, I won't be shedding any tears for him. The man was a corrupt and brutal dictator, who looted his country to enrich himself and his cronies and kept his nation in fear for the 32 years of his rule. He was a mass-murderer, responsible for the deaths of over half a million communists and Indonesian Chinese in the bloody purges which followed his rise to power. And he ordered the invasion and occupation of Timor Leste - an occupation which the UN has said amounted to genocide. Sadly, he died before he could be held accountable for any of these crimes - but at least he won't be causing Indonesia any further problems.