I have been following the awful story about the massacres by the Indonesian military in East Timor since the late '70s, when one of my professors, Noam Chomsky, talked about it, and about the refusal of the media to cover the slaughter of 200,000 people in East Timor with U.S. weapons. 

The U.S. has supplied over $1 billion in weapons to the Indonesian military. These weapons were used to invade, occupy and terrorize the nation of East Timor. And they were used to slaughter and terrorize hundreds of thousands of Indonesians as well. 

The biggest corporate interest: Indonesian oil. It was the major reason why I became so active in promoting alternatives to the industry of automobile dependency. 

I have just returned from Indonesia and I can assure you that the Indonesian people do not support the bloodshed that is going on. It is an exciting time in Indonesia as the people are finally achieving democracy and it is an exciting time for the people of East Timor to finally be recognized as the independent country they have been on paper for 25 years. 

The bloodshed is happening primarily because the Indonesian military has received unquestioned U.S. support through all of its evil deeds for 35 years. It does not recognize the law of Indonesia or of the world; it only knows the law of U.S. supplied weapons. 

The situation in East Timor is our responsibility. 

I urge people to get informed and to take action. An excellent resource is the East Timor Action Network. You can find them on the Web at www.etan.org or call them at 914-428-7299. 

BY ROBERT BERNSTEIN