by John Pilger
. . . East Timor is now an independent state, thanks to the courage of its
people and a tenacious resistance led by the liberation movement Fretilin,
which in 2001 swept to political power in the first democratic elections. In
regional elections last year, 80 per cent of votes went to Fretilin, led by
Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri, a convinced "economic nationalist", who
opposes privatisation and interference by the World Bank. A secular Muslim
in a largely Roman Catholic country, he is, above all, an anti-imperialist
who has stood up to the bullying demands of the Howard government for an
undue share of the oil and gas spoils of the Timor Gap.
On 28 April last, a section of the East Timorese army mutinied, ostensibly
over pay. An eyewitness, Australian radio reporter Maryann Keady, disclosed
that American and Australian officials were involved. On 7 May, Alkatiri
described the riots as an attempted coup and said that "foreigners and
outsiders" were trying to divide the nation. A leaked Australian Defence
Force document has since revealed that Australia's "first objective" in East
Timor is to "seek access" for the Australian military so that it can
exercise "influence over East Timor's decision-making". A Bushite "neo-con"
could not have put it better.
The opportunity for "influence" arose on 31 May, when the Howard government
accepted an "invitation" by the East Timorese president, Xanana Gusmao, and
foreign minister, Jose Ramos Horta - who oppose Alkatiri's nationalism - to
send troops to Dili, the capital. This was accompanied by "our boys to the
rescue" reporting in the Australian press, together with a smear campaign
against Alkatiri as a "corrupt dictator". Paul Kelly, a former
editor-in-chief of Rupert Murdoch's Australian, wrote: "This is a highly
political intervention . . . Australia is operating as a regional power or a
political hegemon that shapes security and political outcomes." Translation:
Australia, like its mentor in Washington, has a divine right to change
another country's government. . . .
John Howard is said to be pleased with his title of George W Bush's "deputy
sheriff" in the South Pacific. He recently sent troops to a rebellion in the
Solomon Islands, and imperial opportunities beckon in Papua New Guinea,
Vanuatu and other small island nations. The sheriff will approve.
FULL TEXT
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Enver Masud, "Greed At Core Of
Indonesia's Timor Problem," The Wisdom Fund, September 22, 1999
[Alkatiri, in particular, raised the ire of Canberra during the protracted
negotiations over the exploitation of the oil and gas reserves when he
denounced the Australian government for its bullying tactics.
After four years of intransigence from Howard and Downer, the Dili
government was last year forced to agree to delay the final settlement of
the maritime border between the two countries for 50 to 60 years. Under
international boundary law - which Australia has refused to recognise - East
Timor is entitled to most of the oil and gas revenues. But Canberra finally
succeeded in having Dili drop its claim of sovereignty over key
resource-rich areas of the Timor Sea for two generations; by which time the
main oil and gas fields will be commercially exhausted.--Nick Beams, "Why
Australia wants 'regime change' in East Timor," wsws.org, May 30, 2006]
[East Timor possesses considerable oil and gas deposits. But that industry
does not create many jobs, and the revenues, now growing faster than
expected because of high oil prices, are yet to be felt by people like
Almeida and his wife.--Jane Perlez, "Billions in
aid brought East Timor little," New York Times, May 31, 2006]
[The history of East Timor independence is also the history of Australian
policy flip-flops and attempts to lay hands on the vast oil deposits in the
surrounding seas, now valued at over 30 billion US dollars. Yet, Australia
has always painted its support for East Timorese independence as a "human
rights" or "humanitarian" mission.--Kalinga Seneviratne, "EAST TIMOR:
Australia - Peacekeeper or Petroleum Predator?," Inter Press Service, June
22, 2006]
Lirio da Fonseca, "Gusmao in resignation ultimatum," Reuters, June
23, 2006
Chad Bouchard, "East Timor Ruling
Party Keeps Embattled PM Alkatiri," voanews.com, June 25, 2006
"Embattled
East Timor PM resigns," BBC News, June 26, 2006
Jane Perlez, "A
Nation-Building Project Comes Apart in East Timor," New York Times, July
14, 2006
[My Entelequia piece . . . offers a historically-grounded
critique of the idea that what we did in East Timor is "humanitarian" in any
meaningful sense of the term. On the contrary, East Timor was the genocidal
outcome of imperial logic at its finest.--Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed, "Humanitarian Intervention in East Timor: A Critical
Appraisal," nafeez.blogspot.com, September 26, 2006]
Simon Tisdall, "Victims of their own success: East Timor
shows signs of falling apart in the hands of the men who led the
independence struggle," Guardian, August 13, 2007
