In a GOP debate on foreign policy Nov. 22, Romney was asked what the US should do about Pakistan. In his reply, he appeared to endorse the repressive reign of Indonesia鈥檚 Suharto, which began in the 1960s.
鈥淲e don't want to just pull up stakes and get out of town after the enormous output we've just made for the region,鈥� Romney said of Pakistan. 鈥淟ook at Indonesia in the '60s. We helped them move toward modernity. We need to help bring Pakistan into the 21st century, or the 20th, for that matter.鈥�
The comment didn鈥檛 make waves, mainly because 1960s Indonesia isn鈥檛 top of mind for most US political reporters. But a few bloggers did note that Romney appeared to be finding 鈥渢he upside of a murderous dictatorship,鈥� as Peter Hart put it on the Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting website.
Dan Murphy of the 海角大神 Science Monitor knew right away that Romney had made a controversial assertion.
Suharto鈥檚 ascent to power 鈥� possibly with an assist from the US 鈥� in a 1965 coup was followed by a horrific aftermath, 鈥渨ith roughly 500,000 Indonesians massacred in an anti-communist purge that persisted into 1966,鈥� Murphy blogged. After that came 鈥渢he systematic destruction of Indonesia's nascent democratic institutions and political parties (which had already been taking a beating under Sukarno); state repression of opponents with torture, targeted killings, and long jail terms; and a military-backed dictatorship that persisted until a popular uprising in 1998 pushed Suharto, finally, from power.鈥�
