Suharto's Invasion Of East Mimoir

Secret documents released back in 2000 by the Australian National Archives gave us just a glimpse of how one of the most murderous events of the 20th century was conducted and covered up. These documents were written by diplomats in the Australian Embassy in Jakarta.The hundreds of official documents that were released reveal a close but private relationship between Indonesia's Suharto and Australia's Whitlam leading up to the invasion of East Timor. Later, we come to find out that the US also had a close hand in the violent invasion by giving approval and supplying weapons to Suharto’s military. I chose to write about the devastating event of East Timor because it really helped me grasp the true nature and history of genocide. It opened my eyes to some of the ways our world was run throughout history and what is still taking place today, right under our noses! East Timor was under Portuguese control until 1975 when the Portuguese suddenly pulled out after centuries of colonization. The unexpected Portuguese withdrawal left the island vulnerable and just nine days after the Democratic Republic of East Timor was declared an independent nation, Indonesia invaded and seized it. Although Australia was the only country to officially recognize the annexation, Suharto's invasion was authorized by the …show more content…
Regardless of its small size geographically and economically, Suharto, in 1975, considered East Timor as a vital territorial investment partly because of its natural resources including copper, zinc, sandalwood, coffee, rare blue marble and especially oil and gas. However, Indonesia’s main justification for invading East Timor lies in Suharto’s persistent efforts to maintain control over the numerous islands that make up Indonesia. Given the geographic closeness of the island of Timor to the rest of Indonesia, Suharto feared that East Timorese independence would encourage independence movements