Washington continued its tepid response to the crisis in East Timor, with assurances from the both the White House and the State Department that no involvement of US troops was being considered.
The Defence Secretary, Mr William Cohen, noting that the US could not be the world's police force and must be selective about where it committed itself, said Indonesia was responsible for bringing order and peace to the troubled area. "I think it's premature for the United States to be talking about any peacekeeping," he said.
The Clinton administration is approaching the East Timor crisis with great delicacy as opposition to any involvement is growing within the Republican-dominated Congress. The Kosovo conflict and rebuilding the Balkans have put a strain on both US military resources and US politicians' tolerance for far-flung ventures.
Mr Clinton is expected to send legislation to Congress this week authorising the expenditure of $3 to $4 billion to cover Kosovo costs and to keep US troops there past a September 30th deadline.
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson (Republican, Texas) is the author of proposed legislation that would require the administration to justify its overseas missions and end those whose goals have been met. She is a leader in the opposition to any intervention in East Timor.
"We are carrying such a burden in the Balkans," she said. "Now, to talk about marching off to another area of the world where there is no clear threat to US security interests is wrong."
Mr Norman Ornstein, a political analyst at the American Enterprise Institute, told the Associated Press: "This Congress has a very broad isolationist streak. Lots of members don't want to get involved unless there's another Pearl Harbour."
Instead, the Clinton administration is joining with the International Monetary Fund in warning Indonesia that its East Timor policies may provoke serious financial consequences. It is the West's economic leverage with Indonesia that the administration is counting on as a persuasive measure.
The State Department spokesman, Mr James Rubin, said that "productive relations between Indonesia and the international community, including the IMF, depend on Indonesia adopting a constructive approach toward ending the humanitarian disaster in East Timor."
The IMF, which receives 18 per cent of its funding from the US, has disbursed $9 billion to Indonesia since 1997, out of a total commitment of $12.3 billion. Mr Rubin said he could not be specific about any loans or payments that the IMF could or would halt.
Beyond the IMF, the US and Indonesia have a complex financial history and relationship. By last year, Indonesia was exporting more than $9 billion in clothing, petroleum, rubber and other products to the US. Despite the Asian financial crisis, Indonesia imported more than $2 billion in US goods in 1998.
Critics of US policy, including an Indonesia expert and Pacifica Radio journalist, Ms Amy Goodman, have charged that the Indonesian army has been the beneficiary of training given by the US military, and extensive arms sales. The Washington-based Centre for International Policy says that the Pentagon spent over $1 million in 1997 training Indonesia army forces in 1997, using the US Air Force, Green Berets and US marines.
But perhaps the greatest challenge is being faced by the UN. "UN credibility has taken a beating here in its inability to foresee the foreseeable," said Prof Adam Schwartz, an Indonesia political expert at Johns Hopkins University.