The modern history of East Timor indicates very clearly what animal brutality hidden behind "humanitarian" façade of modern imperialism. A brief excursion through this drama will allow us to draw two very important conclusions.
The most important fact, which explains a great deal, can be specified at once. There are rich deposits of oil and natural gas in the offshore waters of the country.
East Timor (Timor-Leste) occupies the eastern half of the eponymous island and until 1975 it was a Portuguese colony. Portuguese "Carnation Revolution" (1974) overthrew the fascist dictatorship and opened the process of decolonization of the Portuguese possessions, including East Timor. The left “Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor” (FReTiLIn), the biggest political party in the country, was at the head of the anti-colonial struggle. On November 28, 1975, FReTiLIn, relying on the Timorese soldiers of the colonial troops, announced East Timor an independent state. However, the Indonesian Army invaded the country 9 days later. East Timor was declared the 27th province of Indonesia.
According to various estimates, Indonesian military clique butchered from third to half of the population (from 100 to 250 thousand people) during their occupation of the country. "The Time" magazine described Indonesian colonizers' repressions: "The killings were so widespread that the number of corpses caused serious health problems in the north of Sumatra where the humid air stinks of rotting meat. Those who passed through these places, say that small rivers and streams were literally crowded with corpses. As a result, river transport is experiencing serious difficulties".
But so-called "civilized world" and especially Australia (next-door neighbor of Timor-Leste) have not noticed this bloody terror of many years. Why?
Here is what John Pilger, a well-known Australian journalist, writes: “In my film Death of a Nation, there is a sequence filmed on board an Australian aircraft flying over the island of Timor. A party is in progress, and two men in suits are toasting each other in champagne. "This is an historically unique moment," says one of them, "that is truly uniquely historical." This is Gareth Evans, Australia's foreign minister. The other man is Ali Alatas, principal mouthpiece of the Indonesian dictator, General Suharto. It is 1989, and the two are making a grotesquely symbolic flight to celebrate the signing of a treaty that allowed Australia and the international oil and gas companies to exploit the seabed off East Timor, then illegally and viciously occupied by Suharto” (1).
But, despite brutal terror, Indonesia failed to break the will of the Timorese people to freedom. Realizing that the Indonesian militarists have to buzz off sooner or later, the ruling top of Australia radically changed its position and began to support the independence. Australians have insisted on holding a referendum. So, on May 20, 2002 the independence of Timor-Leste was officially declared.
Soon, however, it was manifested to the displeasure of Australian imperialists that the newly independent State was not very obedient to their will and had the courage to bring about national interests. Australian Prime Minister John Howard said to the London's "Times" that it was very likely that East Timor gained independence too soon.
And then, in March 2006, just two months after signing the agreement with Australia on oil and gas deposits in the Timor Sea (under the agreement Australian company «Woodside Petroleum» acquired a right on development of the deposits), acute political crisis broke out in East Timor. Several hundred soldiers of the Timorese Army demanded mitigate the disciplinary rules of the Army's regulations. In response to this, the command of the Army dismissed them from service. The soldiers refused to obey, and went to the mountains, taking weapons with them. The riots broke out in the country. Disorganized, unemployed young people hit the streets. Protestants demanded that the current prime minister should be replaced from office.
Major of the Timorese Army, a certain Alfredo Reinado, was destined to play key role in these events. He was de facto the leader of the rebellious soldiers and disaffected Timorese citizens. A close look at his biography and where he was undergoing military training arouse suspicion that the man most likely was recruited by Australian intelligence agencies (2).
The culmination of the East Timor crisis was the events on Feb.10, 2008. According to official version, the armed oppositionists led by their leader Alfredo Reinado tried to kill the President of the Republic, Nobel Peace Prize winner Jose Manuel Ramos-Horta. As a result of bloody clashes Alfredo Reinado was killed, oppositionists were dispersed. President Ramos-Horta was seriously wounded. However, many facts indicate that this story is not so obvious. As the leader of the opposition Reinado had regularly attended the Presidential Palace where he negotiated with Ramos-Horta. The President treated him not as criminal but as a partner for negotiations and political activist. Why Reinado suddenly decided to kill Ramos-Horta? Is it that he had received the order from his masters? And who killed Major Reinado? An autopsy report said that Reinado had been shot at "very close range" in the back of the head. It's more like the planned elimination, than the death in a shootout. Was Reinado killed by another agent of the Australian intelligence services when it became clear that the plan failed?
To correctly understand the meaning of the East Timor crisis, we must look at the result of the events and to whom this result is advantageous. The result was that under the pretext of so-called "Peacekeeper mission» the country was occupied by the military units of four countries (Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Portugal) under the overall command of Australian generals. These countries occupy East Timor by now. They are deploying here such military forces, which show that the issue is not about the fight with several hundred deserters and unarmed looters (3). It seems this political-military operation, "Operation Astute", justifies its name. One should think that "Woodside Petroleum" Company is calmer now for their profits!
Let's turn to the conclusions. The first conclusion to be drawn from the analysis of these events lies in the fact that the peoples of the region, which fighting for the independence, in no case should not trust to wolfs in sheep's clothing - Australian imperialists. We primarily have in mind the people of West Papua, which risks falling into "East Timorese trap" because the negotiations through the mediation of Australia are planned now between the independence movement (Free Papua Movement) and Indonesia (which had annexed this country too and also unleashed a bloody terror there). However, the analysis of the situation in West Papua requires a separate article.
The second conclusion consists in that the people's democratic revolution in some countries of Oceania should be implemented in the form of civil disobedience (certainly, wherever there is such opportunity), as orderly and nonviolently as possible. It is necessary to ensure that the Australian-New Zealand imperialist vultures were unable to appeal to the "humanitarian standards", which cover interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states, aggression and intervention. But if the Australian-New Zealand imperialists dare to invade the country of the victorious revolution, they must meet with such a repulse there that they would see the ground burning under their feet!
Notes:
1. “Suharto, The Model Killer, And His Friends In High Places”
http://www.zcommunications.org/zspace/commentaries/3344/
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfredo_Reinado
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Astute#Military_units_involved
Dmitry Kremnev.
http://pacific-unity-league.co.cc/