Soldier, Savior, Strongman, Crook

Suharto was a crook.. there should be no sorrow felt for his passing. The blatant corrupt way he ruled Indonesian. The world did basically nothing, if anything, he was a yankie puppet... His family is left clinging to power and the millions that he stole. Scum doesnt change. Just because its dead scum. I spit on him, his cronnies and his family as millions are held in dire conditions in a country rich with natural resources.

What???s glaringly missing here is mention of the any of the Western nations intimately involved in Suharto???s crimes. Suharto was a violent dictator comparable to Saddam Hussein. Like Saddam Hussein his greatest crimes involved direct and informed subsidy and backing from the US, the UK and Australia. Unlike Saddam, though, he continued to obey the rules set out by the US and remained a friend till his own people (oppressed by US made military equipment) took to the streets.

Suharto's murderous takeover of Indonesia in 1965-6 became "the model operation" for the American-backed coup that got rid of Salvador Allende in Chile seven years later. Suharto also provided a convenient way of advancing the US war on people by wiping out up to a million communists (and anyone else who may have vaguely sympathised with the communist party) in the country which at the time had the highest communist party membership outside a communist state.

Suharto???s crimes are partially our (and here I refer to the Australian involvement) crimes and it sickens me to see Australian leaders (past and present) continuing to support the man Margaret Thatcher described as ???one of our best and most valued friends.??? Ignoring western involvement in the crimes of murderous dictators allows us to justify continued bombardment of third world countries. It is irresponsible journalism.

Let him face his Maker.