Summary
IT WAS upsetting to watch the planet's newest nation descend into lawlessness, and appeal to outsiders to restore order. Australian troops, invited by Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, arrived in East Timor over the weekend and began to bring roaming gangs under control. But trouble had been simmering for a long time, and although Australia is playing rescuer now, it is not entirely blameless in this regional drama.
East Timor's troubles began back in 1975 after its former colonial ruler, Portugal, pulled out. Indonesia, armed with U.S. weapons as an American ally, invaded. Both Australia and the United States stood by while the Indonesian occupation claimed around 200,000 lives. The conflict had a religio-ethnic facet, because Indonesia is mostly Muslim and the Timorese are mostly Catholic.See the full content of this document
Extract
East Timor: ; Violence in the Streets
In 1999 an international peacekeeping force was introduced, and then-P...
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