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Howard''s way with terror: Kopassus and Australia: the government''s eagerness to renew ties with Indonesia''s special forces exposes the fraudulent nature of its ''war on terrorism''.

Article Excerpt
Established at the beginning of the Suharto years in 1965, Kopassus is the elite special force of TNI, the Indonesian armed forces. Its soldiers are elite in every sense. It is said that one Kopassus soldier equals four average soldiers in terms of training, pay, privileges and high-tech equipment. At the outset of the Suharto period, a wave of violence swept through central and east Java. An estimated half to one million died in the slaughter that ensued. Kopassus's impunity became a hallmark of the unit. It became a killing machine that could do whatever it liked without consequence or retribution.

Kopassus's activities have not changed since the days of the Suharto regime. The unit has a proven track record in terrorism. Kopassus forces are called upon whenever the most violent and heinous tasks are deemed necessary by Jakarta. They were associated with political killings and disappearances throughout the Suharto period and were recently involved in the opposition to East Timor's struggle for independence. In partnership with TNI forces, they were directly involved in the militia violence in East Timor in the wake of the 1999 referendum, organising militia units which perpetrated the killing of hundreds of pro-independence supporters.

Currently, they are involved in the training of forces in West Timor that continue to undermine security in East Timor through cross-border operations. There is strong evidence that Kopassus was involved in the murder of three Freeport mine workers (including two Americans) last September. A Kopassus Lieutenant Colonel and six soldiers were convicted of murdering Papuan leader...

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