Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Has global warming stopped? No - it’s just on pause, insist scientists, and it's down to the oceans

The Independent
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/has-global-warming-stopped-no--its-just-on-pause-insist-scientists-and-its-down-to-the-oceans-8726893.html
Steve Connor
Temperatures still expected to reach predicted 2015 levels with only a five-year delay after 12 of the 14 hottest years on record

Huge amounts of heat are being continuously absorbed by the deep ocean

Huge amounts of heat – equivalent to the power of 150 billion electric kettles – are being continuously absorbed by the deep ocean, which could explain why global warming has “paused” over the past 10 to 15 years, scientists have concluded in a series of reports to explain why the Earth’s rate of warming has slowed down.


Global average temperatures are higher now than they have ever been since modern records began. However, after a period of rapid temperature increases during the 1980s and 1990s there has been a significant slow-down since the turn of the century, leading some sceptics to claim that global warming has stopped.

A scientific assessment of the planet’s heat balance has found that the most likely explanation for the recent hiatus in global warming is the continual absorption of thermal energy by the huge “heat sink” of the deep ocean many hundreds of metres below the sea surface, according to scientists from the Met Office.

Senior climate scientists said that they had always expected periods when the rate of increase in temperatures would level off for a few years and emphasised that the last decade was still warmer than any previous decade, with 12 of the 14 hottest years on record occurring since 2000.

Professor Rowan Sutton, a climate scientist at Reading University, said the temperatures have levelled off in the past, the latest example being in the 1940s and 1950s when sulphate pollutants from the post-war boom in industrial production may have acted as a shield against incoming solar radiation.

“Some people call it a slow-down, some call it a hiatus, some people call it a pause. The global average surface temperature has not increased substantially over the last 10 to 15 years,” Professor Sutton said.
“Climate scientists absolutely expect variations in the rate at which surface temperature will rise….but that is not to say we understand all the details of the last 10 to 15 years,” Professor Sutton said.

The problem for the Met Office is to explain why the rate of increase in global temperatures has declined in recent years while concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have continued to accelerate. Sceptics claim that this shows there is not a strong link between the two, whereas climate scientists insist that rising carbon dioxide concentrations are largely responsible for the rise in global temperatures.

Professor Stephen Belcher, head of the Met Office Hadley Centre, said that a pause in the rate of increase in global temperatures lasting this long is unusual but not exceptional, with similar pauses of about 10 years expected on average twice every century.

The most likely explanation for the current pause is that excess heat trapped by carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is being transferred from the atmosphere to the oceans where it is being transported down to deeper layers that cannot be monitored by satellites, Professor Belcher said.

“It looks like the Earth is continuing to accumulate energy but it looks like it is being re-arranged and hidden from view,” he said.

However, measurements from hundreds of ocean floats released over the last decade, which descend and drift to depths of up to 2,000 metres, show that huge amounts of heat from the sea surface is now being transferred to the deep ocean, with unknown consequences for the environment, the scientists said.

“In summary, observations of ocean heat content and of sea-level rise suggest that the Earth system has continued to absorb heat energy over the past 15 years, and that this additional heat has been absorbed in the ocean,” says the Met Office report.

The pause, however, is unlikely to change the predictions over the future course of global warming. Temperature increases expected by 2015 will only be delayed by a further five or ten years, the scientists said. Average surface temperatures are still on course to increase by 2C this century, with further rises expected by the end of the century if nothing is done to curb carbon dioxide emissions, they said.

It is not possible to account for the recent lack of surface warming solely by looking at the difference between amount of heat being received from the Sun and the amount of thermal energy being lost from the planet – calculations show that extra heat continues to be absorbed by the Earth at a rate of 0.6 Watts per square metre, equivalent to about 300bn 1KW electric heaters or 150bn 2KW kettles distributed across the planet.

“Observations of ocean heat content and of sea-level rise suggest that the additional heat from the continued rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations has been absorbed in the ocean and has not been manifest as a rise in surface temperature,” the Met Office says in one of its three reports into the global warming pause.

“Radiated forcing by greenhouse gases has continued unabated; that heat is being held in the system but is not manifest as a rise in global mean surface temperature. Observations of ocean heat content and of sea-level rise suggest that this additional heat has been absorbed by the ocean,” it says.

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Menit-menit yang luput dari catatan sejarah Indonesia

http://kafilyamin.wordpress.com/2011/02/18/menit-menit-yang-luput-dari-catatan-sejarah-indonesia/
Kafil Yamin

Pengantar:
Bukanlah maksud saya hendak mengutik-ngutik ‘nasi yang sudah menjadi bubur’ dengan tulisan ini. Semata-mata saya bersaksi. Kesaksian harus disampaikan, betapapun tidak populernya. Betapapun terpinggirkannya. Kebetulan saya saksi. Saksi harus bicara.
Atau, kalau kata ‘kesaksian’ terdengar teralu resmi. Ya sudah, saya menuliskan sebuah kenangan saja. Namun lebih dari itu semua, saya merasa ada pelajaran sangat berharga dari beberapa saat di masa lalu ini. Dan saya ingin orang-orang muda Indonesia belajar sesuatu dari ini.
‘Nasi sudah menjadi bubur’ yang saya maksud adalah Timor Timur, yang sekarang bernama Timor Leste.
SAYA dikirim kantor berita saya, the IPS Asia-Pacific, Bangkok, pada tanggal 28 Agustus 1999, untuk meliput ‘Jajak Pendapat Timor-Timur’ yang diselenggarakan UNAMET [United Nations Mission in East Timor], 30 Agustus 1999.
Jajak pendapat itu, yang tidak lain dan tidak bukan adalah referendum, adalah buah dari berbagai tekanan internasioal kepada Indonesia yang sudah timbul sejak keruntuhan Uni Soviet tahun 1989. Belakangan tekanan itu makin menguat dan menyusahkan Indonesia. Ketika krisis moneter menghantam negara-negara Asia Tenggara selama tahun 1997-1999, Indonesia terkena. Guncangan ekonomi sedemikian hebat; berimbas pada stabilitas politik; dan terjadilah jajak pendapat itu.
Kebangkrutan ekonomi Indonesia dimanfaatkan oleh pihak Barat, melalui IMF dan Bank Dunia, untuk menekan Indonesia supaya melepas Timor Timur. IMF dan Bank Dunia bersedia membantu Indonesia lewat paket yang disebut bailout, sebesar US$43 milyar, asal Indonesia melepas Timtim.
Apa artinya ini? Artinya keputusan sudah dibuat sebelum jajak pendapat itu dilaksanakan. Artinya bahwa jajak pendapat itu sekedar formalitas.
Namun meski itu formalitas, toh keadaan di kota Dili sejak menjelang pelaksanan jajak pendapat itu sudah ramai nian. Panita jajak pendapat didominasi bule Australia dan Portugis. Wartawan asing berdatangan. Para pegiat LSM pemantau jajak pendapat, lokal dan asing, menyemarakkan pula – untuk sebuah sandiwara besar. Hebat bukan?
Sekitar Jam 1 siang, tanggal 28 Agustus 1999, saya mendarat di Dili. Matahari mengangkang di tengah langit. Begitu menyimpan barang-barang di penginapan [kalau tidak salah, nama penginapannya Dahlia, milik orang Makassar], saya keliling kota Dili. Siapapun yang berada di sana ketika itu, akan berkesimpulan sama dengan saya: kota Dili didominasi kaum pro-integrasi. Mencari orang Timtim yang pro-kemerdekaan untuk saya wawancarai, tak semudah mencari orang yang pro-integrasi.
Penasaran, saya pun keluyuran keluar kota Dili, sampai ke Ainaro dan Liquica, sekitar 60 km dari Dili. Kesannya sama: lebih banyak orang-orang pro-integrasi. Di  banyak tempat, banyak para pemuda-pemudi Timtim mengenakan kaos bertuliskan Mahidi [Mati-Hidup Demi Integrasi], Gadapaksi [Garda Muda Penegak Integrasi], BMP [Besi Merah Putih], Aitarak [Duri].
Setelah seharian berkeliling, saya berkesimpulan Timor Timur akan tetap bersama Indonesia. Bukan hanya dalam potensi suara, tapi dalam hal budaya, ekonomi, sosial, tidak mudah membayangkan Timor Timur bisa benar-benar terpisah dari Indonesia. Semua orang Timtim kebanyakan berkomunikasi dalam bahasa Indonesia. Para penyedia barang-barang kebutuhan di pasar-pasar adalah orang Indonesia. Banyak pemuda-pemudi Timtim yang belajar di sekolah dan universitas Indonesia, hampir semuanya dibiayai pemerintah Indonesia. Guru-guru di sekolah-sekolah Timtim pun kebanyakan orang Indonesia, demikian juga para petugas kesehatan, dokter, mantri.
Selepas magrib, 28 Agustus 1999, setelah mandi dan makan, saya duduk di lobi penginapan, minum kopi dan merokok. Tak lama kemudian, seorang lelaki berusia 50an, tapi masih terlihat gagah, berambut gondrong, berbadan atletis, berjalan ke arah tempat  duduk saya; duduk  dekat saya dan mengeluarkan rokok . Rupanya ia pun hendak menikmati rokok dan kopi.
Mungkin karena dipersatukan oleh kedua barang beracun itu, kami cepat akrab. Dia menyapa duluan: “Dari mana?” sapanya.
“Dari Jakarta,” jawabku, sekalian menjelaskan bahwa saya wartawan, hendak meliput jajak pendapat.
Entah kenapa, masing-masing kami cepat larut dalam obrolan. Dia tak ragu mengungkapkan dirinya. Dia adalah mantan panglima pasukan pro-integrasi, yang tak pernah surut semangatnya memerangi Fretilin [organisasi pro-kemerdekaan], “karena bersama Portugis, mereka membantai keluarga saya,” katanya. Suaranya dalam, dengan tekanan emosi yg terkendali. Terkesan kuat dia lelaki matang yang telah banyak makan asam garam kehidupan. Tebaran uban di rambut gondrongnya menguatkan kesan kematangan itu.
“Panggil saja saya Laffae,” katanya.
“Itu nama Timor atau Portugis?” Saya penasaran.
“Timor. Itu julukan dari kawan maupun lawan. Artinya ‘buaya’,” jelasnya lagi.
Julukan itu muncul karena sebagai komandan milisi, dia dan pasukannya sering tak terdeteksi lawan. Setelah lawan merasa aman, tiba-tiba dia bisa muncul di tengah pasukan lawannya dan melahap semua yang ada di situ. Nah, menurut anak buah maupun musuhnya, keahlian seperti itu dimiliki buaya.
Dia pun bercerita bahwa dia lebih banyak hidup di hutan, tapi telah mendidik, melatih banyak orang dalam berpolitik dan berorganisasi. “Banyak binaan saya yang sudah jadi pejabat,” katanya. Dia pun menyebut sejumlah nama tokoh dan pejabat militer Indonesia yang sering berhubungan dengannya.
Rupanya dia seorang tokoh. Memang, dilihat dari tongkrongannya, tampak sekali dia seorang petempur senior. Saya teringat tokoh pejuang Kuba, Che Guevara. Hanya saja ukuran badannya lebih kecil.
“Kalau dengan Eurico Guterres? Sering berhubungan?” saya penasaran.
“Dia keponakan saya,” jawab Laffae. “Kalau ketemu, salam saja dari saya.”
Cukup lama kami mengobrol. Dia menguasai betul sejarah dan politik Timtim dan saya sangat menikmatinya. Obrolan usai karena kantuk kian menyerang.
Orang ini menancapkan kesan kuat dalam diri saya. Sebagai wartawan, saya telah bertemu, berbicara dengan banyak orang, dari pedagang kaki lima sampai menteri, dari germo sampai kyai, kebanyakan sudah lupa. Tapi orang ini, sampai sekarang, saya masih ingat jelas.
Sambil berjalan menuju kamar, pikiran bertanya-tanya: kalau dia seorang tokoh, kenapa saya tak pernah mendengar namanya dan melihatnya? Seperti saya mengenal Eurico Gueterres, Taur Matan Ruak? Xanana Gusmao? Dan lain-lain? Tapi sudahlah.
Pagi tanggal 29 Agustus 1999. Saya keluar penginapan hendak memantau situasi. Hari itu saya harus kirim laporan ke Bangkok. Namun sebelum keliling saya mencari rumah makan untuk sarapan. Kebetulan lewat satu rumah makan yang cukup nyaman. Segera saya masuk dan duduk. Eh, di meja sana saya melihat Laffae sedang dikelilingi 4-5 orang, semuanya berseragam Pemda setempat. Saya tambah yakin dia memang orang penting – tapi misterius.
Setelah bubar, saya tanya Laffae siapa orang-orang itu. “Yang satu Bupati Los Palos, yang satu Bupati Ainaro, yang dua lagi pejabat kejaksaan,” katanya. “Mereka minta nasihat saya soal keadaan sekarang ini,” tambahnya.
Kalau kita ketemu Laffae di jalan, kita akan melihatnya ‘bukan siapa-siapa’. Pakaiannya sangat sederhana. Rambutnya terurai tak terurus. Dan kalau kita belum ‘masuk’, dia nampak pendiam.
Saya lanjut keliling. Kota Dili makin semarak oleh kesibukan orang-orang asing. Terlihat polisi dan tentara UNAMET berjaga-jaga di setiap sudut kota. Saya pun mulai sibuk, sedikitnya ada tiga konferensi pers di tempat yang berbeda. Belum lagi kejadian-kejadian tertentu. Seorang teman wartawan dari majalah Tempo, Prabandari, selalu memberi tahu saya peristiwa-peristiwa yang terjadi.
Dari berbagai peristiwa itu, yang menonjol adalah laporan dan kejadian tentang kecurangan panitia penyelenggara, yaitu UNAMET. Yang paling banyak dikeluhkan adalah bahwa UNAMET hanya merekrut orang-orang pro-kemerdekaan di kepanitiaan. Klaim ini terbukti. Saya mengunjungi hampir semua TPS terdekat, tidak ada orang pro-integrasi yang dilibatkan.
Yang bikin suasana panas di kota yang sudah panas itu adalah sikap polisi-polisi UNAMET yang tidak mengizinkan pemantau dan pengawas dari kaum pro-integrasi, bahkan untuk sekedar mendekat. Paling dekat dari jarak 200 meter. Tapi pemantau-pemantau bule bisa masuk ke sektratriat. Bahkan ikut mengetik!
Di sini saya perlu mengungkapkan ukuran mental orang-orang LSM dari Indonesia, yang kebanyakan mendukung kemerdekaan Timtim karena didanai asing. Mereka tak berani mendekat ke TPS dan sekretariat, baru ditunjuk polisi UNAMET saja langsung mundur. Tapi kepada pejabat-pejabat Indonesia mereka sangat galak: menuding, menuduh, menghujat. Berani melawan polisi . Di hadapan polisi bule mereka mendadak jadi inlander betulan.
Tambah kisruh adalah banyak orang-orang pro-integrasi tak terdaftar sebagai pemilih. Dari 4 konferensi pers, 3 di antaranya adalah tentang ungkapan soal ini. Bahkan anak-anak Mahidi mengangkut segerombolan orang tua yang ditolak mendaftar pemilih karena dikenal sebagai pendukung integrasi.
Saya pun harus mengungkapkan ukuran mental wartawan-wartawan Indonesia di sini. Siang menjelang sore, UNAMET menyelenggarakan konferensi pers di Dili tentang rencana penyelenggaraan jajak pendapat besok. Saya tentu hadir. Lebih banyak wartawan asing daripada wartawan Indonesia. Saya yakin wartawan-wartawan Indonesia tahu kecurangan-kecurangan itu.
Saat tanya jawab, tidak ada wartawan Indonesia mempertanyakan soal praktik tidak fair itu. Bahkan sekedar bertanya pun tidak. Hanya saya yang bertanya tentang itu. Jawabannya tidak jelas. Pertanyaan didominasi wartawan-wartawan bule.
Tapi saya ingat betapa galaknya wartawan-wartawan Indonesia kalau mewawancarai pejabat Indonesia terkait dengan HAM atau praktik-praktik kecurangan. Hambatan bahasa tidak bisa jadi alasan karena cukup banyak wartawan Indonesia yang bisa bahasa Inggris. Saya kira sebab utamanya rendah diri, seperti sikap para aktifis LSM lokal tadi.
Setelah konferensi pers usai, sekitar 2 jam saya habiskan untuk menulis laporan. Isi utamanya tentang praktik-praktik kecurangan itu. Selain wawancara, saya juga melengkapinya dengan pemantauan langsung.
Kira-kira 2 jam setelah saya kirim, editor di Bangkok menelepon. Saya masih ingat persis dialognya:
“Kafil, we can’t run the story,” katanya.
“What do you mean? You send me here. I do the job, and you don’t run the story?” saya berreaksi.
“We can’t say the UNAMET is cheating…” katanya.
“That’s what I saw. That’s the fact. You want me to lie?” saya agak emosi.
“Do they [pro-integrasi] say all this thing because they know they are going to loose?”
“Well, that’s your interpretation. I’ll make it simple. I wrote what I had to and it’s up to you,”
“I think  we still can run the story but we should change it.”
“ I leave it to you,” saya menutup pembicaraan.
Saya merasa tak nyaman. Namun saya kemudian bisa maklum karena teringat bahwa IPS Asia-Pacific itu antara lain didanai PBB.
***
Kira-kira jam 5:30 sore, 29 Agustus 199, saya tiba di penginapan. Lagi-lagi, Laffae sedang dikerumuni tokoh-tokoh pro-integrasi Timtim. Terlihat Armindo Soares, Basilio Araujo, Hermenio da Costa, Nemecio Lopes de Carvalho, nampaknya mereka sedang membicarakan berbagai kecurangan UNAMET.
Makin malam, makin banyak orang berdatangan. Orang-orang tua, orang-orang muda, tampaknya dari tempat jauh di luar kota Dili. Kelihatan sekali mereka baru menempuh perjalanan jauh.
Seorang perempuan muda, cukup manis, tampaknya aktifis organisasi, terlihat sibuk mengatur rombongan itu. Saya tanya dia siapa orang-orang ini.
“Mereka saya bawa ke sini karena di desanya tidak terdaftar,” katanya. “Mereka mau saya ajak ke sini. Bahkan mereka sendiri ingin. Agar bisa memilih di sini. Tidak ada yang membiayai. Demi merah putih,” jawabnya bersemangat.
Saya tergetar mendengar bagian kalimat itu: “…demi merah putih.”
Mereka semua ngobrol sampai larut. Saya tak tahan. Masuk kamar. Tidur. Besok jajak pendapat.
Pagi 30 Agustus 1999. Saya keliling Dili ke tempat-tempat pemungutan suara. Di tiap TPS, para pemilih antri berjajar. Saya bisa berdiri dekat dengan antrean-antrean itu. Para ‘pemantau’ tak berani mendekat karena diusir polisi UNAMET.
Karena dekat, saya bisa melihat dan mendengar bule-bule Australia yang sepertinya sedang mengatur barisan padahal sedang kampanya kasar. Kebetulan mereka bisa bahasa Indonesia: “Ingat, pilih kemerdekaan ya!” teriak seorang cewek bule kepada sekelompok orang tua yang sedang antre. Bule-bule yang lain juga melakukan hal yang sama.
Sejenak saya heran dengan kelakuan mereka. Yang sering mengampanyekan kejujuran, hak menentukan nasib sendiri. Munafik, pikir saya. Mereka cukup tak tahu malu.
Setelah memantau 4-5 TPS saya segera mencari tempat untuk menulis. Saya harus kirim laporan. Setelah mengirim laporan. Saya manfaat waktu untuk rileks, mencari tempat yang nyaman, melonggarkan otot. Toh kerja hari itu sudah selesai.
Sampailah saya di pantai agak ke Timur, di mana patung Bunda Maria berdiri menghadap laut, seperti sedang mendaulat ombak samudra. Patung itu bediri di puncak bukit. Sangat besar. Dikelilingi taman dan bangunan indah. Untuk mencapai patung itu, anda akan melewati trap tembok yang cukup landai dan lebar. Sangat nyaman untuk jalan berombongan sekali pun. Sepanjang trap didindingi bukit yang dilapisi batu pualam. Di setiap kira jarak 10 meter, di dinding terpajang relief dari tembaga tentang Yesus, Bunda Maria, murid-murid Yesus, dengan ukiran yang sangat bermutu tinggi.  Indah. Sangat indah.
Patung dan semua fasilitasnya ini dibangun pemerintah Indonesia. Pasti dengan biaya sangat mahal. Ya, itulah biaya politik.
Tak terasa hari mulai redup. Saya harus pulang. Besok pengumuman hasil jajak pendapat.
Selepas magrib, 30 September 1999. Kembali saya menunaikan kewajiban yang diperintahkan oleh kebiasaan buruk: merokok sambil minum kopi di lobi penginapan. Kali ini, Laffae mendahului saya. Dia sudah duluan mengepulkan baris demi baris asap dari hidung dan mulutnya. Kami ngobrol lagi.
Tapi kali ini saya tidak leluasa. Karena banyak tamu yang menemui Laffae, kebanyakan pentolan-pentolan milisi pro-integrasi.  Ditambah penginapan kian sesak. Beberapa pemantau nginap di situ. Ada juga polisi UNAMET perwakilan dari Pakistan.
Ada seorang perempuan keluar kamar, melihat dengan pandangan ‘meminta’ ke arah saya dan Laffae. Kami tidak mengerti maksudnya. Baru tau setelah lelaki pendampingnya bilang dia tak kuat asap rokok. Laffae lantas bilang ke orang itu kenapa dia jadi pemantau kalau tak kuat asap rokok. Kami berdua terus melanjutkan kewajiban dengan racun itu. Beberapa menit kemudian cewek itu pingsan dan dibawa ke klinik terdekat.
Saya masuk kamar lebih cepat. Tidur.
Pagi, 4 September 1999. Pengumuman hasil jajak pendapat di hotel Turismo Dili. Bagi saya, hasilnya sangat mengagetkan: 344.508 suara untuk kemerdekaan, 94.388 untuk integrasi, atau 78,5persen berbanding 21,5persen.
Ketua panitia mengumumkan hasil ini dengan penuh senyum, seakan baru dapat rezeki nomplok. Tak banyak tanya jawab setelah itu. Saya pun segera berlari mencari tempat untuk menulis laporan. Setelah selesai, saya balik ke penginapan.
Di lobi, Laffae sedang menonton teve yang menyiarkan hasil jajak pendapat. Sendirian. Saat saya mendekat, wajahnya berurai air mata. “Tidak mungkin. Ini tidak mungkin. Mereka curang..” katanya tersedu. Dia merangkul saya. Lelaki pejuang, tegar, matang ini mendadak luluh. Saya tak punya kata apapun untuk menghiburnya. Lagi pula, mata saya saya malah berkaca-kaca, terharu membayangkan apa yang dirasakan lelaki ini. Perjuangan keras sepanjang hidupnya berakhir dengan kekalahan.
Saya hanya bisa diam. Dan Laffae pun nampaknya tak mau kesedihannya terlihat orang lain. Setelah beberapa jenak ia berhasil bersikap normal.
“Kota Dili ini akan kosong..” katanya. Pelan tapi dalam. “Setelah kosong, UNAMET mau apa.”
Telepon berbunyi, dari Prabandari Tempo. Dia memberi tahu semua wartawan Indonesia segera dievakuasi pakai pesawat militer Hercules, karena akan ada penyisiran terhadap semua wartawan Indonesia. Saya diminta segera ke bandara saat itu juga. Kalau tidak, militer tidak bertanggung jawab. Semua wartawan Indonesia sudah berkumpul di bandara, tinggal saya. Hanya butuh lima menit bagi saya untuk memutuskan tidak ikut. “Saya bertahan, nDari. Tinggalkan saja saya.”
Laffae menguping pembicaraan. Dia menimpali: “Kenapa wartawan kesini kalau ada kejadian malah lari?” katanya. Saya kira lebih benar dia mikirnya.
Saya lantas keluar, melakukan berbagai wawancara, menghadiri konferensi pers, kebanyakan tentang kemarahan atas kecurangan UNAMET. “Anggota Mahidi saja ada 50 ribu; belum Gardapaksi, belum BMP, belum Halilintar, belum masyarakat yang tak ikut organisasi,” kata Nemecio Lopez, komandan milisi Mahidi.
Kembali ke penginapan sore, Laffae sedang menghadapi tamu 4-5 orang pentolan pro-integrasi. Dia menengok ke arah saya: “Kafil! Mari sini,” mengajak saya bergabung.
“Sebentar!” saya bersemangat. Saya tak boleh lewatkan ini. Setelah menyimpan barang-barang di kamar, mandi kilat. Saya bergabung. Di situ saya hanya mendengarkan. Ya, hanya mendengarkan.
“Paling-paling kita bisa siapkan seribuan orang,” kata ketua Armindo Soares, saya bertemu dengannya berkali-kali selama peliputan.
“Saya perlu lima ribu,” kata Laffae.
“Ya, lima ribu baru cukup untuk mengguncangkan kota Dili,” katanya, sambil menengok ke arah saya.
“Kita akan usahakan,” kata Armindo.
Saya belum bisa menangkap jelas pembicaraan mereka ketika seorang kawan memberitahu ada konferensi pers di kediaman Gubernur Abilio Soares. Saya segera siap-siap berangkat ke sana. Sekitar jam 7 malam, saya sampai di rumah Gubernur. Rupanya ada perjamuan. Cukup banyak tamu. Soares berbicara kepada wartawan tentang penolakannya terhadap hasil jajak pendapat karena berbagai kecurangan yang tidak bisa dimaklumi.
Setelah ikut makan enak, saya pulang ke penginapan sekitar jam 8:30 malam. Sudah rindu bersantai dengan Laffae sambil ditemani nikotin dan kafein. Tapi Laffae tidak ada. Anehnya, penginapan jadi agak sepi. Para pemantau sudah check-out, juga polisi-polisi UNAMET dari Pakistan itu. Tak banyak yang bisa dilakukan kecuali tidur.
Namun saat rebah, kantuk susah datang karena terdengar suara-suara tembakan. Mula-mula terdengar jauh. Tapi makin lama makin terdengar lebih dekat dan frekuensi tembakannya lebih sering. Mungkin karena perut kenyang dan badan capek, saya tertidur juga.
Tanggal 5 September pagi, sekitar jam 09:00, saya keluar penginapan. Kota Dili jauh lebi lengang. Hanya terlihat kendaran-kendaraan UNAMET melintas di jalan. Tak ada lagi kendaraan umum. Tapi saya harus keluar. Apa boleh buat – jalan kaki. Makin jauh berjalan makin sepi, tapi tembakan nyaris terdengar dari segala arah. Sesiang ini, Dili sudah mencekam.
Tidak ada warung atau toko buka. Perut sudah menagih keras. Apa boleh buat saya berjalan menuju hotel Turismo, hanya di hotel besar ada makanan. Tapi segera setelah itu saya kembali ke penginapan. Tidak banyak yang bisa dikerjakan hari itu.
Selepas magrib 5 Setember 1999. Saya sendirian di penginapan. Lapar. Tidak ada makanan. Dili sudah seratus persen mencekam. Bunyi tembakan tak henti-henti. Terdorong rasa lapar yang sangat, saya keluar penginapan.
Selain mencekam. Gelap pula. Hanya di tempat-tempat tertentu lampu menyala. Baru kira-kira 20 meter berjalan, gelegar tembakan dari arah kanan. Berhenti. Jalan lagi. Tembakan lagi dari arah kiri. Tiap berhenti ada tarikan dua arah dari dalam diri: kembali atau terus. Entah kenapa, saya selalu memilih terus, karena untuk balik sudah terlanjur jauh. Saya berjalan sendirian; dalam gelap; ditaburi bunyi tembakan. Hati dipenuhi adonan tiga unsur: lapar, takut, dan perjuangan menundukkan rasa takut. Lagi pula, saya tak tau ke arah mana saya berjalan. Kepalang basah, pokoknya jalan terus.
Sekitar jam 11 malam, tanpa disengaja, kaki sampai di pelabuhan Dili. Lumayan terang oleh lampu pelabuhan. Segera rasa takut hilang karena di sana banyak sekali orang. Mereka duduk, bergeletak di atas aspal atau tanah pelabuhan. Rupanya, mereka hendak mengungsi via kapal laut.
Banyak di antara mereka yang sedang makan nasi bungkus bersama. Dalam suasa begini, malu dan segan saya buang ke tengah laut. Saya minta makan! “Ikut makan ya?” kata saya kepada serombongan keluarga yang sedang makan bersama. “Silahkan bang!.. silahkan!..” si bapak tampak senang. Tunggu apa lagi, segera saya ambil nasinya, sambar ikannya. Cepat sekali saya makan. Kenyang sudah, sehingga ada tenaga untuk kurang ajar lebih jauh: sekalian minta rokok ke bapak itu. Dikasih juga.
Sekitar jam 3 malam saya berhasil kembali ke penginapan.
Pagi menjelang siang, tanggal 6 September 1999. Saya hanya duduk di lobi penginapan karena tidak ada kendaraan. Tidak ada warung dan toko yang buka. Yang ada hanya tembakan tak henti-henti. Dili tak berpenghuni – kecuali para petugas UNAMET. Nyaris semua penduduk Dili mengungsi, sebagian via kapal, sebagian via darat ke Atambua. Orang-orang pro-kemerdekaan berlarian diserang kaum pro-integrasi. Markas dan sekretariat dibakar. Darah tumpah lagi entah untuk keberapa kalinya.
Sekarang, saya jadi teringat kata-kata Laffae sehabis menyaksikan pengumuman hasil jajak pedapat kemarin: “Dili ini akan kosong..”
Saya pun teringat kata-kata dia: “Saya perlu lima ribu orang untuk mengguncang kota Dili..” Ya, sekarang saya berkesimpulan ini aksi dia. Aksi pejuang pro-integrasi yang merasa kehilangan masa depan. Ya, hanya saya yang tahu siapa tokoh utama aksi bumi hangus ini, sementara teve-teve hanya memberitakan penyerangan mililis pro-integrasi terhadap kaum pro-kemerdekaan.
Tentu, orang-orang pro-integrasi pun mengungsi. Laffae dan pasukannya ingin semua orang Timtim bernasib sama: kalau ada satu pihak yang tak mendapat tempat di bumi Loro Sae, maka semua orang timtim harus keluar dari sana. Itu pernah diucapkannya kepada saya.
Inilah hasil langsung jajak pendapat yang dipaksakan harus dimenangkan. Hukum perhubungan antar manusia saat itu sepasti hukum kimia: tindakan lancung dan curang pasti berbuah bencana.
***
Saya harus pulang, karena tidak banyak yang bisa dilihat dan ditemui. Untung masih ada omprengan yang mau mengantara ke bandara. Sekitar jam 11 pagi saya sampai di pelabuhan udara Komoro. Keadaan di bandara sedang darurat. Semua orang panik. Semua orang ingin mendapat tiket dan tempat duduk pada jam penerbangan yang sama. Karena hura-hara sudah mendekati bandara. Lagi pula penerbangan jam itu adalah yang satu-satunya dan terakhir.
Bule-bule yang biasanya tertib kini saling sikut, saling dorong sampai ke depan komputer penjaga kounter. Ada bule yang stres saking tegangnya sampai-sampai minta rokok kepada saya yg berdiri di belakang tenang-tenang saja. Beginilah nikmatnya jadi orang beriman.
Banyak yang tidak kebagian tiket. Entah kenapa saya lancar-lancar saja. Masuk ke ruangan tunggu, di situ sudah ada Eurico Gutteres. Saya hampiri dia, saya bilang saya banyak bicara dengan Laffae dan dia menyampaikan salam untuknya. Eurico memandang saya agak lama, pasti karena saya menyebut nama Laffae itu.
Sore, 7 Novembe3, 1999, saya mendarat di Jakarta.
Penduduk Timtim mengungsi ke Atambua, NTT. Sungguh tidak mudah mereka mengungsi. Polisi UNAMET berusaha mencegah setiap bentuk pengungsian ke luar Dili. Namun hanya sedikit yang bisa mereka tahan di Dili.
Di kamp-kamp pengungsian Atambua, keadaan sungguh memiriskan hati. Orang-orang tua duduk mecakung; anak-anak muda gelisah ditelikung rasa takut; sebagian digerayangi rasa marah dan dendam; anak-anak diliputi kecemasan. Mereka adalah yang memilih hidup bersama Indonesia. Dan pilihan itu mengharuskan mereka terpisah dari keluarga.
Pemerintah negara yang mereka pilih sebagai tumpuan hidup, jauh dari menyantuni mereka. Kaum milisi pro-integrasi dikejar-kejar tuntutan hukum atas ‘kejahatan terhadap kemanusiaan’, dan Indonesia, boro-boro membela mereka, malah ikut mengejar-ngejar orang Timtim yang memilih merah putih itu. Eurico Guterres dan Abilio Soares diadili dan dihukum di negara yang dicintai dan dibelanya.
Jendral-jendral yang dulu menikmati kekuasaan di Timtim, sekarang pada sembunyi. Tak ada yang punya cukup nyali untuk bersikap tegas, misalnya: “Kami melindungi rakyat Timtim yang memilih bergabung dengan Indonesia.” Padahal, mereka yang selalu mengajarkan berkorban untuk negara; menjadi tumbal untuk kehormatan pertiwi, dengan nyawa sekalipun.
Sementara itu, para pengungsi ditelantarkan. Tak ada solidaritas kebangsaan yang ditunjukkan pemerintah dan militer Indonesia.
Inilah tragedi kemanusiaan. Melihat begini, jargon-jargon negara-negara Barat, media asing, tentang ‘self determination’, tak lebih dari sekedar ironi pahit. Sikap negara-negara Barat dan para aktifis kemanusiaan internasional yang merasa memperjuangkan rakyat Timtim jadi terlihat absurd. Sebab waktu telah membuktikan bahwa yang mereka perjuangkan tak lebih tak kurang adalah sumberdaya alam Timtim, terutama minyak bumi, yang kini mereka hisap habis-habisan.
Pernah Laffae menelepon saya dari Jakarta, kira-kira 3 bulan setelah malapetaka itu. Ketika itu saya tinggal di Bandung. Dia bilang ingin ketemu saya dan akan datang ke Bandung. Saya sangat senang. Tapi dia tak pernah datang..saya tidak tahu sebabnya. Mudah-mudahan dia baik-baik saja.
***
12 tahun beralu sudah. Apa kabar bailout IMF yang 43 milyar dolar itu? Sampai detik ini, uang itu entah di mana. Ada beberapa percik dicairkan tahun 1999-2000, tak sampai seperempatnya. Dan tidak menolong apa-apa. Yang terbukti bukan mencairkan dana yang dijanjikan, tapi meminta pemerintah Indonesia supaya mencabut subsidi BBM, subsidi pangan, subsidi listrik, yang membuat rakyat Indonesia tambah miskin dan sengsara. Anehnya, semua sarannya itu diturut oleh pemerintah rendah diri bin inlander ini.
Yang paling dibutuhkan adalah menutupi defisit anggaran. Untuk itulah dana pinjaman [bukan bantuan] diperlukan. Namun IMF mengatasi defisit angaran dengan akal bulus: mencabut semua subsidi untuk kebutuhan rakyat sehingga defisit tertutupi, sehingga duit dia tetap utuh. Perkara rakyat ngamuk dan makin sengsara, peduli amat.
Melengkapi akal bulusnya itu IMF meminta pemerintah Indonesia menswastakan semua perusahaan negara, seperti Bank Niaga, BCA, Telkom, Indosat.
Pernah IMF mengeluarkan dana cadangan sebesar 9 milyar dolar. Tapi, seperti dikeluhkan Menteri Ekonomi Kwik Kian Gie ketika itu, seperak pun dana itu tidak bisa dipakai karena hanya berfungsi sebagai pengaman. Apa bedanya dengan dana fiktif?
Lagi pula, kenapa ketika itu pemerintah Indonesia seperti tak punya cadangan otak, yang paling sederhana sekalipun. Kenapa mau melepas Timtim dengan imbalan utang? Bukankan semestinya kompensasi? Adakah di dunia ini orang yang hartanya di beli dengan utang? Nih saya bayar barangmu. Barangmu saya ambil, tapi kau harus tetap mengembalikan uang itu. Bukankah ini sama persis dengan memberi gratis? Dan dalam kasus ini, yang dikasih adalah negara? Ya , Indonesia memberi negara kepada IMF secara cuma-cuma.
Kalau saya jadi wakil pemerintah Indonesia waktu itu, saya akan menawarkan ‘deal’ yang paling masuk akal: “Baik, Timor Timur kami lepas tanpa syarat. Ganti saja dana yang sudah kami keluarkan untuk membangun Timtim selama 24 tahun.” Dengan demikian, tidak ada utang piutang.
Sampai hari ini Indonesia masih menyicil utang kepada IMF, untuk sesuatu yang tak pernah ia dapatkan. Saya harap generasi muda Indonesia tidak sebodoh para pemimpin sekarang.

Net porn block on EVERY home: Victory for the Mail as PM pledges 'opt in' rule for all web users

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2372833/Net-porn-block-EVERY-home-Victory-Mail-PM-pledges-opt-rule-web-users.html
JAMES CHAPMAN

  • PM will today warn that internet pornography is 'corroding childhood'
  • All internet-connected homes will be asked whether they want filters
  • And all new subscribers will have to opt out if they want obscene material
  • Porn simulating rape will also be banned under new legislation
Every householder connected to the internet will have their access to online porn blocked unless they ask to receive it.
In a victory for the Daily Mail, David Cameron will announce the move today among a series of measures cracking down on against the tide of web sleaze.
The Prime Minister will warn that internet pornography – much of it easily accessible to youngsters – is ‘corroding childhood’.
Victory for the Mail: Prime Minister David Cameron, pictured last week, will today announce new rules requiring every internet connection to have porn blocked unless subscribers 'opt in' to obscene content
Victory for the Mail: Prime Minister David Cameron, pictured last week, will today announce new rules requiring every internet connection to have porn blocked unless subscribers 'opt in' to obscene content

By the end of next year, all 19million UK homes currently connected to the net will be contacted by service providers and told they must say whether family-friendly filters that block all porn sites should be switched on or off.
From the end of this year, all new customers setting up a broadband account or switching provider will have the filters automatically switched on unless they opt to disable them to allow sites with ‘adult content’.
‘The Daily Mail has campaigned hard to make internet search engine filters “default on”. Today they can declare that campaign a success,’ Mr Cameron said.
‘We are taking action to help clean up the internet and protect a generation of children from often extreme online pornography.’

'The Daily Mail has campaigned hard to make internet search engine filters “default on”. Today they can declare that campaign a success'

 David Cameron, Prime Minister

Other measures being announced by Mr Cameron today include adult content filters on all new mobile phones, a bar on accessing adult content through public wi-fi and calling in Ofcom to regulate industry progress. Internet giants such as Google will be told they have a ‘moral duty’ to do more to stop child abuse images being accessed.

Pornography involving simulated rape will be banned both online and offline, and online videos will be subject to the same rules as those sold in sex shops.
There will be stronger powers for watchdogs to investigate the ‘hidden internet’ – heavily encrypted forums and pages that allow abusers to cover their tracks
There has been growing alarm at evidence that a third of children have accessed online pornography by the time they reach ten. Six in ten parents now say they are worried or very worried about their sons and daughters seeing violent and sexual material on the web.
In his landmark speech at the NSPCC, Mr Cameron will say action is more urgent than ever because web access has ‘changed profoundly’ in recent years.
‘Not long ago, access to the internet was mainly restricted to the PC in the corner of the living room, with a beeping dial-up modem, downstairs in the house where parents could keep an eye on things,’ he will say.
Today, there is material freely available that is a ‘direct danger to our children’.
The Prime Minister will add: ‘I’m not making this speech because I want to moralise or scaremonger, but because I feel profoundly as a politician, and as a father, that the time for action has come. This is, quite simply, about how we protect our children and their innocence.’
Mr Cameron will announce that in future deciding about family-friendly filters will be a required part of the set-up process for installing an internet connection.
When existing web users are contacted, family-friendly filters will be pre-selected. Only an adult will be able to change the filter settings and the account holder will receive a confirmation email. Some ISPs are offering text alerts, in case children hack into the account.
Any adult ignoring the alerts will have filters installed automatically.
‘By the end of this year, when someone sets up a new broadband account the settings to install family-friendly filters will be automatically selected. If you just click “next” or “enter”, then the filters are automatically on,’ Mr Cameron will say.
‘And, in a really big step forward, all the ISPs have rewired their technology so that once your filters are installed, they will cover any device connected to your home internet account.
‘No more hassle of downloading filters for every device, just one click protection. One click to protect your whole home and keep your children safe.
‘Once those filters are installed, it should not be the case that technically literate children can just flick the filters off at the click of a mouse without anyone knowing. So we have agreed with industry that those filters can only be changed by the account holder, who has to be an adult. So an adult has to be engaged in the decisions.
‘But of course, all this just deals with the flow of new customers – those switching service providers or buying an internet connection for the first time. It does not deal with the huge stock of existing customers – almost 19million households. So this is now where we need to set our sights.
‘Following the work we’ve already done with the service providers, they have now agreed to take a big step.
‘By the end of next year, they will have contacted all of their existing customers and presented them with an unavoidable decision about whether or not to install family friendly content filters. TalkTalk, who have shown great leadership on this, have already started.
‘We are not prescribing how the ISPs should contact their customers – it’s up to them to find their own technological solutions. But however they do it, there will be no escaping this decision.
‘And they will ensure it is an adult making the choice.’ 
‘I’m asking Ofcom, the industry regulator, to oversee this work. If they find that we are not protecting children effectively, I will not hesitate to take further action.’ 
Mr Cameron will announce further measures to tackle extreme pornography, which depicts violence against women, including simulated rape.
‘These images normalise sexual violence against women – and they are quite simply poisonous to the young people who see them.
“The legal situation is that although it’s been a crime to publish pornographic portrayals of rape for decades, existing legislation does not cover possession of this material – at least in England and Wales.
‘Well I can tell you today we are changing that. We are closing the loophole – making it a criminal offence to possess internet pornography that depicts rape.
‘And we are doing something else to make sure that the same rules apply online as they do offline. There are some examples of extreme pornography that are so bad that you can’t even buy this material in a licensed sex shop. And today I can announce we will be legislating so that videos streamed online in the UK are subject to the same rules as those sold in shops.
‘Put simply – what you can’t get in a shop, you will no longer be able to get online.'
Holly Dustin, of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, said:
'We are delighted that David Cameron has responded to the call by experts and women’s groups to ban pornographic images of rape that promote and eroticise violence against women. 
'The Coalition Government has pledged to prevent abuse of women and girls, so tackling a culture that glorifies abuse is critical for achieving this. 
'The next step is working with experts to ensure careful drafting of the law and proper resourcing to ensure the law is enforced fully.'

The little girls whose killers viewed child porn on the web

Google and other internet firms have a ‘moral duty’ to do more to rid the internet of child abuse images, David Cameron will say.
Search engines should block any results for a ‘blacklist’ of terms compiled by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (Ceop). Porn users trying to access images of children should also be confronted with a warning telling them they risk losing their jobs or access to their family, the Prime Minister says.
Web firms have come under scrutiny in recent months following the convictions of Mark Bridger for murdering five-year-old April Jones and Stuart Hazell for murdering 12-year-old Tia Sharp. Both men had visited child abuse sites before the attacks.
The Government has been involved in lengthy negotiations with technology firms over the best way to crack down on child abuse.
Service providers have agreed to introduce ‘splash pages’ which tell people if they are attempting to view illegal images.
The Prime Minister will insist firms should go further, with a warning of consequences ‘such as losing their job, their family, even access to their children’.
Mr Cameron will dismiss arguments from some in the industry that it is impossible to design more effective filters to stamp out vile images. 
‘There are some searches which are so abhorrent and where there can be no doubt whatsoever about the sick and malevolent intent of the searcher that there should be no search results returned at all,’ he will say, adding that he wants a response by October.
‘I have a very clear message for Google, Bing, Yahoo! and the rest. You have a duty to act on this – and it is a moral duty.
‘We are already looking at the legislative options we have. This is quite simply about obliterating this disgusting material from the net – and we will do whatever it takes.’ 
In a statement, Google said: ‘We have a zero tolerance attitude to child sexual abuse imagery. Whenever we discover it, we respond quickly to remove and report it.’

Saturday, July 20, 2013

A stricken Allied bomber, the German ace sent to shoot it down and a truly awe inspiring story of wartime chivalry

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2370933/A-Higher-Call-A-stricken-Allied-bomber-German-ace-sent-shoot-truly-awe-inspiring-story-wartime-chivalry.html
TONY RENNELL

  • Luftwaffe pilot Lt Franz Stigler refused to shoot down near-destroyed Allied bomber
  • Instead he guided stricken pilot Lt Charlie Brown to safety
  • A phone call led to a tearful reunion of the two World War II veterans

Incredible story: He was a real master of the skies, but Luftwaffe veteran Franz Stigler showed pity to an Allied bomber in its hour of need
Incredible story: He was a real master of the skies, but Luftwaffe veteran Franz Stigler showed pity to an Allied bomber in its hour of need

The lone Allied bomber was a sitting duck. Holed all over by flak and bullets and down to a single good engine, it struggled simply to stay in the air over Germany, let alone make it the 300 miles back to England. 
The rear gunner’s body hung lifeless in his shattered turret, another gunner was unconscious and bleeding heavily, the rest of the ten-man crew battered, wounded and in shock. The nose cone had been blown out and a 200mph gale hurtled through the fuselage.
Somehow the pilot, 20-year-old Lt Charlie Brown, still clung to the controls — and the last vestiges of hope.
He had already performed miracles. Returning from a daylight bombing run to Bremen, he had manoeuvred the plane magnificently through a pack of Messerschmitt fighters, taken hit after hit, then spiralled five miles down through the air, belching smoke and flames, in an apparent death dive before somehow levelling her out less than 2,000ft from the ground.
If common sense prevailed, he would order everyone to bail out and leave the B-17 Flying Fortress to its fate. He and the crew would parachute to safety, prisoners of war but alive. But that would mean leaving an unconscious man behind to die alone, and Brown refused to do that.
Mercifully, though, he realised as he coaxed the massive plane along at 135mph, barely above its stalling speed, the German fighters had disappeared. They must have seen the bomber — part of the U.S. Air Force based in eastern England — plummeting to earth that day in December, 1943, and ticked off another kill before returning to base.
There was a faint chance, then, they might make it home after all, even though, as his flight engineer now reported after an inspection of the plane’s blood-spattered interior,  ‘we’re chewed to pieces, the hydraulics are bleeding, the left stabiliser is all but gone and there are holes in the fuselage big enough to climb through’.
In the distance, agonisingly close, Brown could see the German coastline, and ahead of that the North Sea and open skies back to England. Spirits rose — until a glance behind revealed a fast-moving speck, a lone Me109, getting bigger and bigger by the second, closing in.
In the cockpit of the German fighter, his guns primed, was Lt Franz Stigler, a Luftwaffe ace who needed one more kill to reach the 30 that would qualify him for a Knight’s Cross, the second highest of Germany’s Iron Cross awards for bravery.
Stigler, aged 28 and a veteran airman who had been flying since the start of the war, had been refuelling and reloading his guns on the ground when the lone B-17 had lumbered slowly overhead. 
History: John D Shaw's painting A Higher Call which shows Franz Stigler and Charlie Brown in flight
Within minutes, he was fast-taxiing to the runway and up in the air to give chase, the precious Knight’s Cross now just a leather-gloved trigger-finger away.
What happened next was extraordinary in the annals of World War II — and told in a new book that offers a gleam of humanitarian light in the dark tragedy of that conflict.
As Stigler came up behind the bomber he could not believe its condition. How was it still flying? Nor, strangely, was there any gunfire from the stricken plane to try to ward him off. That was explained as, inching closer, he saw the slumped body of the rear gunner.
Veering alongside, he could see the other guns were out of action too, the radio room had been blown apart and the nose had gone. Even more startlingly, through the lattice work of bullet holes, he glimpsed members of the crew, huddled together, helping their wounded.
He could make out their ashen faces, their fear and their courage. His finger eased from the trigger. He just couldn’t do it, he realised.
He was an experienced fighter pilot. He’d fought the Allies in the skies over North Africa, Italy and now Germany. This bomber he was cruising alongside was just one plane out of the countless air armadas that had been pulverising his homeland night and day for three years, wiping out factories and cities, killing hundreds of thousands of civilians.
And yet . . .
Stigler saw himself as an honourable man, a knight of the skies — not an assassin. The first time he flew in combat was with a much admired officer of the old school, who told him, ‘You shoot at a machine, not a man. You score “victories”, not “kills”.
‘A man may be tempted to fight dirty to survive, but honour is everything. You follow the rules of war for you, not for your enemy. You fight by rules to keep your humanity. So you never shoot your enemy if he is floating down on a parachute. If I ever see you doing that, I will shoot you down myself.’
The message hardly chimed with the ruthless Nazi mentality that had gripped Germany and its armed forces under Hitler. Nor with a war being fought with such savagery on many fronts.
But it chimed with Stigler, who had never bought into Nazi philosophy or joined the party. He prided himself in fighting by this code. It never mattered more than here and now, flying side by side with a helpless enemy over northern Germany.
His Knight’s Cross could go hang. ‘I will not have this on my conscience for the rest of my life,’ he muttered to himself.
Aboard the American bomber, anxious and bewildered eyes swivelled towards the Messerschmitt, now positioned just above its right wing tip and matching its speed as if flying in formation. 
They could clearly see the pilot’s face, the whites of his eyes. What was the bastard up to? He must be toying with them. Why didn’t he just get it over and done with?
To their amazement, they saw the German waving frantically, mouthing words, making gestures. What was he trying to say? In his cockpit, Stigler was struggling with a dilemma. He was not content just to ease back and let the bomber escape. He was now determined to save it and the men on board. 
But he knew that before it crossed out of Germany it would come within range of anti-aircraft batteries lined up along the coast, which would blast it out of the sky.
High in the sky: An incredible display of humility was displayed that was unline much of the WWII air battles
Change course, he was trying to tell the enemy crew. Head eastwards to neutral Sweden, a 30-minute flight away, crash-land there and spend the rest of the war as internees but alive. But any words were lost in the roar of the bomber’s faltering engines, while in its front seat, Brown clung doggedly to the control column and ploughed on.
Stigler now took an even more momentous decision. He gambled that if the flak gunners down on the ground spotted his Messerschmitt side by side with the enemy bomber, they would hold fire. He held his course, prepared to risk being shot down himself.
The ploy worked. Not a shot was fired from the ground. But Stigler knew he now faced a different danger. There were witnesses to his actions. If word got back that he had helped an enemy bomber to escape, he faced a court martial and a firing squad for treason.
Back in the helpless B-17, the crew were confused as the Messerschmitt continued alongside. The ‘crazy’ German pilot was gesturing at them again. 
Stigler believed they had no chance of surviving all the way back to England. They would crash in the North Sea and drown. Sweden, go to Sweden, he was still frantically trying to tell them.
By now, the uncomprehending Brown had had enough of the German’s presence at his side. He thought the ‘son of a bitch’ was trying to shepherd him back to Germany. He ordered the one remaining gun turret to be swung towards the enemy fighter.
As the barrels turned in his direction, Stigler got the message. He had done all he could. He gave one last look, mouthed ‘Good luck’, saluted the Americans and peeled away.  Brown and his men made it back, on a wing and a prayer. As the crippled plane slipped below 1,000ft, they jettisoned everything weighty:radio, guns, even the spent cartridge cases on the floor. Still they dropped . . . 500ft, 400ft. There was nothing but sea ahead.
But they had pals around them now, American P-47 fighters, urging them on. At last they cleared the coast of England, just 250ft off  the ground, and aimed at the  first airfield.
The landing gear went down, so did the flaps (though only after being cranked by hand); at 50ft, Brown cut the one remaining engine and they sank on to the runway, careering along it before coasting to a breathless, almost  unbelievable halt. An exhausted Brown staggered out and for the first time took in the full extent of the damage to his plane. ‘It frightened me more than anything in the air did,’ he recalled. He had no idea how they had managed to survive.
But what also stuck in his mind was the mysterious Messerschmitt pilot and that final salute. For the first time he began to grasp what had happened — he and his plane had been helped to get away.
The real hero of the mission was that unknown Luftwaffe pilot. And that was what he told the intelligence officer who de-briefed him on the mission. He and his men owed their lives to a good German. 
It was not a message that his superiors wanted to hear, as they now made plain. What if other Allied airmen were inspired to believe there were merciful  Germans pilots out there, held back on the trigger themselves and lost their lives as a consequence?
Brown and his crew were ordered not to tell a soul. They must wipe from their minds any memory of that incredible ten minutes in the sky over Germany.
For more than 40 years, Brown kept the secret but he never forgot. Then, in 1985, and retired to Florida, he blurted the story out at a veterans’ reunion. ‘I still don’t know who that German was and why he let us go,’ he declared, determined now to find out.
Long and fruitless enquiries over the next five years eventually led him to the newsletter of an association of German fighter pilots. He wrote his story there and waited for the remotest possibility of a response. ‘I thought there was more chance of winning the lottery than finding him alive,’ he said.
In Vancouver, where he had lived for 37 years, Franz Stigler opened his regular association newsletter, and could not believe his eyes. Here, out of the blue, was the missing piece in the jigsaw of his life.
After his encounter with the B-17, he had returned to base, half-expecting the Gestapo to be waiting. 
The Luftwaffe was always suspect in the eyes of the Nazis. Fighter pilots in particular faced scorn for failing to halt the Allied bombing raids, accused of cowardice and disloyalty, when in reality they were overwhelmed by vastly superior numbers.
Incredibly, his risk had paid off: there was no Gestapo welcoming committee.
But, increasingly disillusioned by what his country had turned into under Hitler, Stigler had lost any desire for the Knight’s Cross, so, though he was constantly in battle and flew close to 500 combat missions, he simply failed to register his ‘victories’ and claim what he now saw as a worthless piece of metal. 
He carried on fighting almost to the end, as the Third Reich collapsed in ruins around him.
In the aftermath, he struggled to survive. Ironically, he ended up working in a Messerschmitt  factory, now making sewing machines under U.S. direction rather than warplanes.
In 1953, he emigrated to Canada to work as a mechanic in a  logging camp. 
In time, he bought his own Messerschmitt and would fly in air shows as the ‘bad German’ being pursued by vintage American fighters. But the memory of that B-17 all those years ago stayed with him. Had it got home? Had the crew he had risked himself to save actually survived? He had no way of knowing.
Not, that is, until by chance he saw Charlie Brown’s story in the newsletter. The two old men spoke on the phone, then met up in an emotional reunion. They wept as they hugged each other and recounted their versions of what had happened in that magical ten minutes back in 1943. For the first time, it all made sense.
As Brown explained now that he knew the whole story: ‘I was too stupid to surrender, and Franz  Stigler was too much of a gentleman to destroy us.’
From then on until their deaths — Stigler in March 2008 and Brown eight months later — the two men travelled together to take their unique story to veterans’ clubs and air museums. ‘This was their last act of service to build a better world,’ writes author Adam Makos. ‘Their message was simple: enemies are better off as friends.’
Nor will the message stop. British playwright Sir Tom Stoppard and his producer son, Will, have acquired the film rights to Makos’s book. 
‘It’s going to be an epic,’ says Stoppard jnr. For those of us who have had the privilege of reading this inspiring book, it already is.
A HIGHER CALL by Adam Makos with Larry Alexander will be published by Atlantic Books