Never let it be said that principle and the need for policy consistency would stand in the way of pursuit of our short term interests. Another notable exception to bombability occurred following Suharto's 1975 invasion and occupation of East Timor. This involved ethnic cleansing far beyond anything the Serbs or even Saddam Hussein have ever perpetrated. But as our friend, with an open door and providing an investors paradise, not only was Suharto not bombed, he was supplied the arms to kill, diplomatic protection, and the necessary eye aversion in the U.S. and other western media. In the midst of the western furor over the Serbs in Kosovo, in October 1998 the Turkish army launched another pacification drive against the Kurds in Eastern Turkey.
Turkey is also notorious for the institutionalized use of torture on prisoners of all kinds.
The Clinton administration has exerted no pressure whatsoever on Turkey to stop killing Kurds. It goes without saying that the mainstream U.S. media have given the Turkish ethnic cleansing minimal attention and indignation and have failed to note the remarkable double standard. Israel, of course, is even more closely allied to and protected by the U.S. than Turkey, and is freer still to engage in ethnic cleansing and cross-border invasions and raids, without fear of international sanction. The homes of Palestinian protestors throwing stones are regularly demolished, but following his murder of 29 Palestinians Baruch Goldstein's home was left intact. Well over a thousand Palestinians were killed and over 130,000 injured during the Intifada protests against discrimination, in which Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin instructed the Israeli army that they were free to enter Palestinian homes and beat men, women, and children without fear of prosecution.