After voting for independence from Indonesia late last month, the territory of East Timor has suffered increased effects of a pro-government rampage of death and destruction. Questions surrounding U.S. involvement and a possible multi-national peacekeeping force have circled the issue, prompting Congressman Jones to write President Clinton and urge him to first consider the potential effects on the U.S. military.  A full text of the letter is available upon request.

 “The series of atrocities waged against the East Timorese are both inexcusable and wrong,” Jones wrote.  “But the United States simply cannot afford to police the world.  There are other nations, particularly in Asia, that need to be the primary force in this situation.  It is their stability and security that is most immediately and directly impacted.  Before we agree to send U.S. troops into a military conflict, I recommend you urge these nations to step up to the plate and fulfill their own responsibilities.” 

“While I agree that the United States has an interest in the stability of Indonesia and of Asia as a whole, our role as a leader of democracy throughout the world does not and should not immediately default to the involvement of the U.S. military,” Jones wrote. “At a time when Indonesia has failed to convincingly address the crisis, U.S. military involvement is both bad foreign policy and an unnecessary risk of American lives.” 

“Our armed forces are already over-utilized and under-funded,” Jones wrote.  “The pace of operations has increased by over 300 percent since the fall of the Berlin Wall, yet our defense budgets do not reflect the need for increased training and resources.  Right now thousands of American men and women are deployed to Bosnia, Kosovo, Haiti, and in support of operations in Iraq.  I cannot at this time support risking American lives by sending troops into a military intervention in Indonesia, knowing full-well that our forces are not even funded to adequately perform the missions in which they are currently involved.”