"There have been efforts to move to an independent Asia" | Noam Chomsky interviewed by Prodita Sabarini

"There have been efforts to move to an independent Asia" | Noam Chomsky interviewed by Prodita Sabarini

Question: What do you think are the main factors enabling impunity on
cases of abuses such as in the 1965 communist killings, the war crimes
in East Timor and continuing human rights violations in Papua?

Answer: There's a very simple reason for it. The US supported it all,
every one of them. The US was ecstatic in 1965. In fact, the support was
so overwhelming that it was just public. The New York Times and other
journals were euphoric about it. They didn't suppress it. They described
the massacre as wonderful. Same in Britain. Same in Australia.

What happened in East Timor was because the US and its allies supported
it for 25 years. West Papua is the same. As long as the US primarily and
its allies as well -- the Western powers -- support atrocities, they
are carried out with impunity, just like their own atrocities are. I
mean, the Vietnam War was the worst atrocity in the post-World War II
period but nobody's [found] guilty for it.

Question: Indonesia's election is just around the corner. How do you see
the potential shift from the desire for more political freedom to a
return to the old powers in Indonesia?

Answer: Same as everywhere else, the powerful win. I mean the overthrow
of the dictatorship in Indonesia was important. Part of the reason [for
the overthrow] was Soeharto not carrying out roles that the IMF
[International Monetary Fund] and the US demanded. And in fact, Madeline
Albright, the [then] secretary of state at one point said that the US
was dissatisfied with what Indonesia was doing and they ought to think
about real change. About four hours later, Soeharto resigned. I don't
know if there was a causal connection but it was awfully suggestive. It
is the great powers who decide. Mainly, the US in recent years decides
what happens.

Question: What can citizens do to guide where their country's heading, given these external forces?