The General

During the invasion of East Timor in 1975 five journalists were murdered by the Indonesian army. One of the journalists killed was Greg Shackleton from Australia. A sixth journalist was murdered when he tried to investigate the case. The East Timorese population suffered severely from the Indonesian invasion, one- third of the East Timorese people died since then.
The widow of Greg Shackleton visited East Timor last year. When she heard about the presence of general Murdani on the island, she decided to have a talk with him, for he must have been the man to order the killing of her husband. About this encounter she wrote a little poem:

THE GENERAL
THE GENERAL HAS A CHRISTIAN SOUL
AND A ALMOST KINDLY SMILE
SO IT'S EASY TO FORGET HIS ROLE
IN THE GENOCIDE OF THIS ISLE

BUT WHEN I ASKED FOR THE SIMPLE TRUTH
I COULD SEE BY THE LOOK IN HIS EYES
WITH ALL HIS POWER HE COULD ONLY TELL
NEAR PATHETIC LIES.

Shirley Shackleton

* Origin: / De Zwarte Ster* / *31-70-3636755 / 14400 bps. / (16:31/10)