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Speaking Ill of the Dead

Posted by Maia | January 28th, 2008

I think ‘imperialist lapdog’ would be the nicest thing that I could say about Suharto, the former Indonesian Prime Minister who died recently. His government secured resources for capitalists, by systemic brutality of the people who lived there. Timor Leste has fought and won independence (of a sort), but West Papua and Acheh are still fighting for their freedom, having withstood decades of attack from the state.

Those who remain silent about his actions at the time of his death are making it explicit that they prioritise West Papua’s Copper and gold over its people.

I will say this at least the American Ambassdor is honest:

Cameron Hume, the US ambassador in Jakarta, said Suharto was a close ally who led his country through a period of “remarkable” development.

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3 Responses to “Speaking Ill of the Dead”

  1. Myca Writes:
    January 28th, 2008 at 9:31 am

    Although I have no comment on Suharto (agreeing with you completely), this reminds me of one of my more favorite bits about ‘Speaking Ill of the Dead’.

    When Nixon died, D. C. Simpson (of the wonderful webcomic Ozy and Millie) drew a cartoon with one of his characters holding up two fingers as ‘bunny’ ears behind Nixon. He received an extremely angry letter ranting about how one should never speak ill of the dead. His response was, “You’re totally right. Boy, that Stalin sure was efficient.”

    —Myca

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  2. RonF Writes:
    January 28th, 2008 at 9:45 am

    I’m old enough to remember Suharto. Even at that young age, it was pretty clear to me that we were supporting a bad guy, and that the stated reason was that everyone else over there was worse. The world needs fewer like him.

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  3. John Writes:
    January 30th, 2008 at 4:25 pm

    Cameron Hume, the US ambassador in Jakarta, said Suharto was a close ally who led his country through a period of “remarkable” development.

    The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) has fired off a letter to Amb. Hume in response to his statement on Suharto’s death. You can read the whole thing here.

    Here is a taste:

    Your failure to acknowledge the enormous harm done to the people of Indonesia and East Timor by this dictator, and your unwillingness to admit the central role the U.S. played in empowering and encouraging this tragedy, is a travesty of history. It is a shameful view of Suharto from which we feel compelled to disassociate ourselves.

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