Indonesia: Fight over the Papuans

As India's armed forces rolled into Goa last week, Indonesia's jaunty President Sukarno tried to hitch a ride. Standing beneath a canopy in the cultural center of Djokjakarta, Sukarno told a wildly cheering crowd of 100,000 to prepare "for the coming general mobilization of all the Indonesian people soon to liberate West Irian from the claws of Dutch imperialism. My brothers, this is my command!"

West Irian is the Indonesian name for a California-sized island of swamp and jungle that the Dutch call Netherlands New Guinea (the eastern part of the island is administered by Australia, whose rights there Sukarno so...

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