East Timor:
The real agenda begins to show

It would be naive to believe that Prime Minister Howard has 
had a sudden conversion to East Timorese independence or that he 
is now motivated by real humanitarian concerns. It is the same 
John Howard who persistently refuses to apologise for the decades 
long treatment of the Aboriginal people in Australia.

The real agenda in East Timor is much more related to events in 
Indonesia and the possibility that the Indonesian people may, at 
long last, again take the path of democratic, progressive 
development after the nightmare of the Suharto dictatorship.

Much swings on the choice of Indonesia's new President which will 
be decided in mid-October by the newly elected Indonesian 
parliament as well as the continuing action of the Indonesian 
people on the streets.

The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) (9/10/99) reports 
that the Indonesian military has established a new command centre 
on the island of Flores which is about 400 kilometres to the west 
of Dili.

Flores island stands between Timor and the main Indonesian island 
of Java. It is regarded as having an important strategic 
position.

The Indonesian military commander in the area is reported to have 
expressed the view that East Timor could come under the "shadow" 
of Australia and "could even host a US military base."

That Australian forces have been actively involved in intrusions 
into East Timor (and where else?) is revealed in a further 
article by London based Ian Hunter in the SMH (11/10/99).

He writes that "Australian special forces and navy divers were 
scouting the terrain of East Timor and Indonesian forces 
deployments inside the territory months before the actual landing 
of UN approved peacemakers last month.

"Members of the elite Perth-based Special Air Services Regiment 
and the Royal Australian Navy's Clearance Diving Team have been 
operating clandestinely on the island since early this year."

The deployment of members of these forces was carried out by 
submarines and they were taken off by helicopter.

These operations were carried out months before the referendum in 
East Timor and before any decision was taken by the UN to 
establish a peacekeeping force. It is also well-known that the 
Australian military force was assembled in Darwin months before 
these events.

The incursions were carried out secretly against a supposedly 
"friendly" country in violation of that country's sovereignty.

Was it intended that under cover of allegedly helping the East 
Timorese and the turmoil in Indonesia that preparations were 
being made to invade the territory, to establish a "western" 
military occupation in East Timor so as to better pressure a new 
Indonesian Government to adopt policies acceptable to the US and 
Australian Governments?

The sheriff and deputy sheriff are working closely together on 
their shared objectives.

Back to index page