The Asian Flu

By Mark Thompson/Washington

Pentagon planners are quietly reviewing their options for how to extricate the 11,000 Americans living in Indonesia if turmoil in the South Pacific archipelago continues to escalate. Fiscal problems have led to a $43 billion International Monetary Fund bailout, but the resulting austerity measures have sent the cost of basic necessities in the world's fourth most populous country soaring, and last week rioting broke out on several islands. The anger comes from 90% of the 202 million Indonesians who are Muslims and is largely directed against the nation's ethnic Chinese, who account for only 4% of the population but control about 70% of the economy. So long as the unrest is contained by Indonesian strongman SUHARTO, the Pentagon doesn't think an emergency evacuation will be required. But his hold is shaky, and if increased rioting turns into wholesale violence, the U.S. military might be called on to ferry Americans to safety.

--By Mark Thompson/Washington