Salon.com > Peter Dale Scott

Why the U.S. must withdraw from Iraq

Thu, 28 Oct 2004 19:23:00 +0000

In 1991, after the Gulf War, President George H.W. Bush proclaimed, "The specter of Vietnam has been buried forever in the desert sands of the Arabian Peninsula." But the specter he and the Pentagon had feared for over a decade, of a devastating shrinkage of U.S. influence following a military withdrawal, had always been a phantom.

That "specter," of defeat in Vietnam, proved in time to be as harmless as a Halloween ghost. Asia did not tip as predicted toward the Communist camp after America withdrew; Asia tipped decisively the other way. And it did so precisely because America's troops stopped fighting where they did not belong, leaving space for other Americans to come in and do more constructive forms of business.

We face a different specter today: the sibling specter of escalation and imperial overstretch. The true Vietnam syndrome is our country's proven pathological history of involvement in unnecessary and unwinnable wars.

Bloody hands

Fri, 10 Sep 1999 13:00:00 +0000

Killer militias organized by elements of Indonesia's army have murdered hundreds of East Timorese civilians and forced thousands more into exile. There is much talk of United Nations intervention and what form it should take. But the more important question behind the brutal local campaign is who will control Indonesia -- and what kind of Indonesia the world can live with.

The fall of Indonesian dictator Suharto in May 1998 seemed to promise the end of his "New Order" -- the ruthless suppression of a diverse nation by the army, motivated by a spoils system, with the lion's share of the spoils going to Suharto's family.

The new president, B.J. Habibie, a civilian, took steps (including holding parliamentary elections) to move toward civilian rule. A key signal was the departure of Gen. Prabowo, one of the Army's leading strongmen and Suharto's son-in-law. Prabowo was forced to resign and go into exile after an investigation showed that elements of his former Special Forces command, Kopassus, had been involved in the torture and "disappearances" of civilians.

Who's behind ethnic violence in Indonesia?

Tue, 01 Dec 1998 20:00:00 +0000

As violence between Muslim mobs and members of Christian minorities in Indonesia grabs headlines, it is clear the country's future hinges on a single political question: Can Indonesia peacefully become a secular civilian democracy?

The alternative may be endless cycles of religious violence.

Most U.S. press coverage of Indonesia's current troubles has focused on mob violence. But pro-democracy leaders in Indonesia and many journalists see these incidents as a result of organized provocation directed from above.

Such provocations were used by former President Suharto to deflect public resentment from those in power, and to provide a justification for strongman military rule. They are being used today in order to foment tensions between different ethnic groups, to break up the coalition seeking democracy and to discredit the students who until now have been nonviolent.

A commission of inquiry reported to a recent special session of the Indonesian parliament that army elements under Lt. Gen. Prabowo Subianto had instigated the bloody incidents of last May, in which 1,200 died.

Dickering with the devil

Thu, 21 May 1998 19:00:00 +0000

When Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on Wednesday called for President Suharto to engage in "an historic act of statesmanship" (i.e., step down, which Suharto obligingly did Thursday), she couldn't have made it clearer that the U.S., at least in words, is looking toward a new era in Indonesia.

Buzzwords like "statesmanship," "reform" and "dialogue" from Albright and other American officials indicate that the Clinton administration believes that Suharto's departure will stabilize the situation in a democratic manner.

But without strenuous vigilance from Congress, the United States may find itself supporting a new military dictatorship there.

Despite the calls for a peaceful, democratic transition in Indonesia, Washington has rejected Suharto not because he is a ruthless tyrant who gained power by killing perhaps a million of his own countrymen. Rather, it is because the administration believes he is now too weak to impose the tough economic reform package of the International Monetary Fund.