US-Backed Dictator Declared 'Hero,' Rights Groups Applaud Our Hypocrisy
ABC News dutifully reports Indonesia's decision to declare late dictator Suharto a 'national hero,' noting the outrage from rights groups. What they don't quite emphasize is that Suharto, responsible for the deaths of 500,000 to two million citizens in the 1965-66 massacres (documented in U.S. government cables declassified in 2017), was a staunch U.S. ally. The State Department actively supplied
the Indonesian military with funds, weapons, and intelligence lists of alleged communists, facilitating his bloody ascent to power. So, while human rights organizations decry the rehabilitation of a brutal strongman, the uncomfortable truth is that Washington's 'national interests' often align perfectly with 'regional stability' achieved through mass murder. It's almost as if some atrocities are
more acceptable than others, depending on whose boots are on the ground—or whose weapons are in their hands. How convenient that history often gets edited when it’s inconvenient for our narrative of global democracy promotion.