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Knut Rognes
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Will the United States
Commit to East Timor?
By Scott Burchill
A contribution by the United States to an armed peacekeeping mission in
East Timor was always going to be decisive. Only the presence of US troops
and materiel is likely to deter Indonesia's security forces from further
terrorising the civilian population which last week voted overwhelmingly in
a United Nations-sponsored ballot to become an independent state.
The Australian Government has spent the last three days urging Washington
to participate in a rapid deployment force comprising a "coalition of
willing states", including Canada, the UK, Thailand, Malaysia, New Zealand
and the Philippines. It is estimated that between 6000 and 7000 armed
peacekeepers would be required to restore law and order in the territory.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard told President Clinton yesterday that
Australians would find it "very strange indeed" if the US refused
assistance: Canberra is prepared to head the mission with a commitment of
2000 troops and would be satisfied with a contribution of only 500 US
soldiers. Australia's foreign minister, Alexander Downer rang Madeleine
Albright yesterday to remind her that Australia had "given very strong
support to the US over and over again in many different conflicts", and now
expect some reciprocity. He shouldn't hold his breath.
At his point in time the US has pledged only logistics and planning support
to the mission. It apparently regards East Timor as "Australia's Haiti", a
reference to Washington's restoration to power of the legitimately elected
Aristide Government after the 1994 coup. The analogy is misleading.
Indonesia illegally occupies East Timor in defiance of numerous UN Security
Council and General Assembly resolutions. According to the UN (though
crucially not Australia which alone recognises Jakarta's sovereignty in the
territory), Portugal is the legal administrative authority in East Timor
which, under international law, is a non-self-governing territory of the UN
General Assembly. Australia has no intention of restoring Lisbon's
authority in it's former colonial outpost.
While the State Department is said to be mildly enthusiastic about a
contribution, the Pentagon argues that the US is already "over-extended" in
the Balkans, and Congress, with a few honourable exceptions, has never
heard of East Timor. The White House is still talking about the
responsibility of Indonesia's security forces for law and order in East
Timor, when it knows they are the problem rather than the solution.
President Clinton is waiting for the results of a Security Council
delegation which arrived in Jakarta today to establish the intentions of
the Habibie Government and its military - now clearly two quite separate
agents - before making any decision. It appears that tomorrow will be
decision day. Foreign ministers of APEC countries together with British
foreign secretary Robin Cook are meeting in Auckland to discuss the East
Timor crisis.
Whether the US can be energised to seriously address the human catastrophe
in East Timor may depend more on "the CNN factor" than the urgings of
allied governments. However, the latest reports from the territory suggest
the telephone system has been shut down, the capital Dili has been
destroyed, and almost all foreign journalists have left. UNAMET, the United
Nations presence in East Timor has begun to evacuate its staff. The people
of East Timor are once more alone to confront their awful fate.
Scott Burchill
8 September, 1999
Scott Burchill
Lecturer in International Relations
School of Australian and International Studies
Deakin University
221 Burwood Highway
Burwood Victoria 3125
AUSTRALIA
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