Tom Harkin: “It seems to me that for the bastion of democracy, those of us in this country who believe so deeply in the right of the…”

“It seems to me that for the bastion of democracy, those of us in this country who believe so deeply in the right of the secret ballot, the right of people to be able to vote for their futures, to see this happen and for us to stand back and do nothing is shameful. We ought to be on the front lines of asking the United Nations to go in there with a peacekeeping force now. I had asked the United Nations and the Clinton administration to put pressure on the U.N. to send a peacekeeping force to East Timor on the day of the vote or the day after the vote. If we had done that, we wouldn't have had these killings that have gone on. We could have had a little bit of preventive action. But, no, we didn't do it. We said we had to wait until the Indonesians asked us to come in. It is clear that the Government of Indonesia is not going to keep law and order there. It is clear from every eyewitness account we have that the Indonesian military is behind the militias and their brutal attacks on innocent civilians. So now it is incumbent upon the world community to answer the call to go to East Timor to restore peace and stability. I will shortly be introducing a resolution to that effect that basically congratulates the East Timorese on their vote, condemns the violence, and calls upon our U.N. Ambassador to seek the United Nations Security Council's immediate authorization to deploy an international force to East Timor to restore peace and stability.”