Aceh’s military commander in 1965 was Ishak Djuarsa, an avid anticommunist who had studied at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas.5 On October 7, he left the capital, Banda Aceh, for a whirlwind tour of the province, giving speeches to quickly assembled crowds. “The PKI are kafir [infidels],” he announced, according to eyewitness reports. “I will destroy them down to their roots! If in the village you find members of the PKI but do not kill them, it will be you who we punish!”
