Louise Williams, Darwin – Several days before he was killed in East Timor, the Dutch journalist Sander Thoenes was discussing his concerns over the political manipulations behind the public face of the Indonesian Government and military, and the violence and death that power struggle would wreak.
His own life ended tragically on the outskirts of Dili, his killers – who mutilated his body – dressed in Indonesian military uniforms.
His death was part of the bigger picture he had been talking about: the use of terror and intimidation, and the provocation of violence to promote the political interests of the Indonesian military and the maintenance of the status quo.
What killing Sander – one of the most qualified and insightful members of the Jakarta foreign press corps – achieved was to frighten other journalists seeking the truth about the Indonesian military and the militia's role in East Timor during the past weeks.
But the murder was just one part of a continuing fear campaign to demonstrate that, despite the democratic face of the post-Suharto Indonesian Government, the authoritarian forces of the military still hold the real political power – and have no intention of letting it go. What East Timor represents to the Indonesian military is an unacceptable international humiliation.
To that end, public opinion in Indonesia is being manipulated to criticise Australia's role in the peacekeeping force and sow fear among Australians in Indonesia.
It is not surprising that snipers this week fired, mysteriously, into the Australian embassy, despite the presence of Indonesian military guards; that demonstrators tore down the Australian flag inside the consulate in Medan and raised the Indonesian flag; that mobs burnt Australian flags in Jakarta; and that Australian businesses were the targets of death threats.
But the demonstrators are not ordinary Indonesians, but "rent-a-crowd" members of right-wing groups with links to the Indonesian military.
Indonesian politicians routinely talk about "provocateurs" stoking violence for political ends, playing one religion off against another,one culture against another along the numerous fracture lines that run through Indonesian society.
It is important to remember that in May last year the massive riots that devastated Jakarta were provoked by one faction within the Indonesian military seeking to discredit the military commander-in-chief and promote the ambitions of their own commander. At least 1300 Indonesians died.
"The political and military elite is so accustomed to power that thousands of lives are not too much to achieve their ends," said one Asian diplomat recently. It is important to point out that there is little that is genuine about this "rising wave of anti-Australian sentiment".
Ordinary Indonesians, themselves struggling under the weight of the worst economic crisis since World War II, are not afforded the luxury of misplaced national pride and have had little interest in the Timor issue.
It is perhaps even more important to point out that within Indonesia this week there were far larger, and more passionate, demonstrations by Indonesians against their own armed forces and political elite.
Thousands protested outside the Indonesian Parliament building over new legislation that would further enhance the powers of the security apparatus.
That legislation mocks the "democratic" victory of tens of thousands of student demonstrators who last year forced President Suharto to step down, raising hopes of an end to military abuses and the evolution of an accountable, democratic political system in Indonesia.
And the East Timor carnage is a tragic warning to other regions that the Indonesian military will continue to act with impunity.
For Australia, the power struggle in Jakarta is crucial for our own efforts to reshape our tattered foreign policy to reflect the realities East Timor has exposed. It appears that the Indonesian military is not able to be effectively checked.
But it would be foolish to discount the strength of the democratic movement in Indonesia and the deep resentment of the armed forces among the people of other regions who have suffered so much.