John O Sutter Foreword (1 results)

Soft cover. Condition: New. 2nd Edition. 397 p. Includes: illustrations, index, bibliography. This volume describes the most serious threat to the pluralistic nature of the Indonesian society and its secular government posed by an attempt of the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) to seize power on October 1, 1965. While the army under General Suharto to thwarted the attempt, had the coup succeeded there is no doubt that an intensive class warfare would have destroyed the political parties, religious organizations and entire social classes committed to the preservation of the multifaceted pluralism in the country. The book deals with the establishment of the Biro Chusus by the Chairman of the Communist Party, D.N. Aidit in 1964, and the methods used by its director Sjam and his staff to penetrate the armed forces and recruit Marshal Omar Dani, General Pranoto, General Supardjo, Colonel Untung, Colonel Latief and score of other officers for the promotion of the PKI's objectives. The study then discusses the collapse of President Sukarno on August 4, 1965 due to the failure of his kidneys, and his order to Untung to purge the army's top command to prevent its political ascendancy should the attack leave the president incapacitated. The three meetings of PKI's Executive Committee, held in the middle of August 1965, are documented to show how the committee authorized Aidit and the Politbiro to use Untung and his associates to carry out the purge, the destruction of the top generals to be followed by the PKI's assumption of power in the country.