The Exception to the Rulers
Exposing Oily Politicians, War Profiteers, and the Media That Love Them
Chapter One
Introduction
The Silenced Majority
The troops marched slowly up the road, their U.S.-made M-16s
in the ready position. It was November 12, 1991, a day that
would forever be seared into my memory, and into history. I
was in Dili, the capital of East Timor, a small island nation
300 miles north of Australia. East Timor had been brutally
occupied by Indonesian troops for sixteen years, since they
invaded in 1975. The Indonesian military had sealed off East
Timor from the outside world and turned it into their private
killing field. A third of the population - 200,000 Timorese
- had died. It was one of the worst genocides of the late
twentieth century.
I had just attended mass at the main church in Dili with Allan
Nairn, journalist and activist, then writing for The New
Yorker magazine. After the service, thousands marched toward
the Santa Cruz cemetery to remember Sebastian Gomes, yet
another young man killed by Indonesian soldiers. The people
came from all ... read full excerpt from The Exception To the Rulers:Exposing Oily Politicians, War Profiteers, and the Media That Love Them ebook
