VIVAnews - Controversy ensues over Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA as more and more people, some more authoritative than others, seemed to have their own opinions. The controversy of the book, written by New York Times journalist Tim Weiner, stems from a statement saying that former Indonesian Vice President Adam Malik was a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agent.
The book said that CIA figure Clyde McAvoy whom Tim Weiner interviewed in 2005 claimed to have recruited Adam Malik. McAvoy met Adam Malik in 1964. CIA also supposedly gave Adam Malik US$10,000 thousand to support Adam Malik's role in eradicating the Gestapu, the 30th September Movement of the Indonesian Communist Party.
Deputy Head of Commission I (Defense Commission) at the House of Representatives, Sidharto Danusubroto, said that there should be counter-proving. The proof should certainly take the form of counter research.
"It is now free to write anything. The Indonesian history is multi-sourced and multi-narrated. Therefore, the correct measure is to produce a writing that may clarify the matter. We cannot sue anyone at will," said Sidharto at the Parliamentary complex, Monday, Nov 24.
The same sentiment was shared by the Chief of the Indonesian Unity Party, Suryadharma Ali. He said that there needs to be an investigation of the data that leads to Adam Malik being named a CIA agent, “This needs further prove,” Suryadharma said in Jakarta, Tuesday, 25 Nov.
Historian from the Indonesian Science Institute, Asvi Warman Adam, said that we need to deal with book intelligently. “We don't need to write a counter book. We shouldn't need to perform a reverse proving, because it is the writer that needs to prove whether or not Adam Malik was a CIA agent,” Asvi said during a dialog on the accusation of Adam Malik as a CIA agent in the Regional House of Representatives, Wednesday, 26 Nov.
Asvi suggested that the Social Department should get into the fray, because it is through them that the titles of National Heroes are given. He went on to say that there shouldn't be a ban on the book. “Banning a book, at anytime and anywhere, is not a good thing to do. It’s authoritarian.” he said, “We could have a compromise. The three paragraphs that say that Adam Malik is a CIA agent can be blotted out.”
Meanwhile, Adam Malik's son, Otto Malik, said that he was no longer emotional about it. “I was emotional at first. But after reading it, I understand that the writer himself admitted to his lies,” Otto said in the same dialog.
After reading the book Otto said that Tim Weiner was clever with his words in the foreword pages. “He wrote that what is written in his book might not be all true,” he said. Thus why Otto was sure that the interview that involved his father was not valid.
VIVAnews writers Siswanto, Anggi Kusumadewi, Siswanto, Beno Junianto, Ramona Sofianne Dewi and Bonardo Maulana Wahono contributed to this article.
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