"Our son-of-a-bitch"

[sabotabby]

Ah, so it's time for me to engage in another tasteless and immoral—intolerant, even!—celebration of a human being's death. That would be Suharto, the murderer of anywhere from possibly almost 2 million people. Already, the good patriots at FreeRepublic.com are mourning him as "our son-of-a-bitch," keeping the world safe from Islamo-communism, etc. And of course, the current American administration is totally sad about it. Here's a good article on Western complicity with Suharto's crimes. (Thanks gordonzola.)

I wonder how far this rehabilitation will spread. You see it whenever any bloodthirsty former leader dies, be it Pinochet or Reagan. The deceased was "controversial"; he employed brutal tactics to suppress his opponents. But he fought the good fight against communism and, most important, stabilized the almighty economy. It doesn't matter how many brown people get killed or how many civil liberties get trampled, as long as there's some economic growth. You know how it is.

In 1998, I was 19 years old, and like many others who had been involved (peripherally, in my case) with the East Timor Action Network, I celebrated Suharto's downfall. Many of us hoped that Suharto—and the Western interests that supported him—would finally be held accountable for their crimes against humanity. But, like Pinochet, in the end he got off easily—dying in bed instead of in jail or in front of a firing squad.

This said, the world is minus one monster today. Good riddance. I think I might crack open that champagne tonight.

EDIT: lopukhov says it better.

Comments

[faithhopetricks.livejournal.com]

I mean I always try to think "No man is an island, ask not for whom the bell tolls..." but when it comes to someone like Suharto? Seems a bit hollow

//grins Between that and the Buffy/Faith icon -- oh yes, me too. I am enjoying the surge of nasty glee.

[smhwpf.livejournal.com]

I find his death somehow less satisfying than Pinochet's. I mean, both evaded justice, but it seemed like Pinochet's legacy was rather more thoroughly erased by the time he died. Things have certainly improved a lot in Indonesia, but the military still has an awful lot of influence and West Papua is still under the heel though East Timor is free and Aceh at peace. There were parties in Santiago, don't think they're really happening in Jakarta.

Ha. Just realised you are a friend of both sabotabby and liz_marcs. Such a person should be on my f-list! Hope you don't mind if I add you?

[faithhopetricks.livejournal.com]

I find his death somehow less satisfying than Pinochet's

Yeah....also, altho this is more sort of PR stuff, more people in the West seemed convinced Pinochet was, at least, a Bad Person, or at least knew who he was, even if it was through, God help us all, Sting or something. I doubt there's going to be any general name recognition for Suharto, unless, I dunno, people remember The Year of Living Dangerously because it had Mel Gibson in it or something. But of course that doesn't matter as much as his murderousness and awful legacy, the bastard.

Do not mind at all! //goes over to check out your LJ