East Timor

The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo and Jose Ramos-Horta gives a much needed boost to the long-suffering people of East Timor (Oct. 12). With one-third of the pre-1975 invasion population dead as a result of a bloody occupation by Indonesia, a trusted U.S. ally that has received billions of dollars in military and economic assistance over the last 20 years from successive Republican and Democratic administrations and a compliant Congress, you would think that East Timor would merit extensive discussion.

Hopefully the attention brought to bear on East Timor by the Nobel Peace Prize will lead to increased coverage by The Times and serious discussion by Washington politicians. Ultimately, peace can only come to East Timor when Indonesia withdraws from the territory and allows the holding of an internationally supervised plebiscite as called for by U.N. resolutions.

MIZUE AIZEKI

Venice

Why allot more than one-third of your article to the Brookings Institution’s offensive regrets that the deaths of 200,000 East Timorese are not a “larger thing”--and thus undeserving of recognition--and suggestions that the Peace Prize is bothersome to its recipients and politically ineffective?

More importantly, where was the story behind the story, i.e., Henry Kissinger’s role in the initial Indonesian invasion, Sen. Dianne Feinstein championing the Indonesians’ right to bear (U.S.) arms, and the administration’s persistent efforts to ensure a steady flow of military training and hardware to East Timor’s oppressors?

If East Timor’s resistance leaders can’t get the White House hospitality offered Indonesia’s dictator Suharto when he visits, the least our press can offer them is the respect their struggle deserves.

SARAH S. FORTH

Los Angeles