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Politics : War -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Thomas M. who wrote (18197)	12/3/2002 10:16:13 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Respond to of 23908

So, 25 years after we blocked the UN from intervening in the genocide, you are giving us kudos for our support for election? We didn't support East Timorese independence because it would destabilize Indonesia. And the Australians are the main beneficiaries of East Timorese independence. apheda.org.au greenleft.org.au And the power-brokers of East Timor knew they had tremendous oil reserves lying in the vicinity, and the only way to get a major cut of the action was to cut Indonesia out of it by pressing for East Timorese independence... And East Timor was a Portugese colony until 1975... probably even before before your daddy was a twinkle in your grandfather's eyes. That means Portugal was the imperialist power in the region, not the US. The US supported Indonesia because we needed them to safeguard the sealanes between the S. China Sea and Indian Ocean. And it only made sense that a nation of under 1 million people was not particularly worthy of independence.. Heck, Washington, DC has more people than East Timor.... So it's a matter of perspective.. And I don't particularly believe either side has the moral high ground. East Timor is equivalent to Indonesia's Quatanamo Bay, one more island in an archipelago that is incredibly hard to govern, let alone defend from insurrections and invasions. You see Thomas, I don't particularly believe every group of people are worthy of having their intentions for independence supported... But that certainly doesn't justify brutality on the part of the Indonesian government either... So don't be so self-righteous Thomas... The Indonesians ALSO know the value of those oil reserves lying under East Timor... And they resent the fact that Australia and some local former colonialists are depriving them of that resource... Once again, it comes down to money and power.... And neither side is pure. Hawk