Timor review

BOOK REVIEW by Andy Alcock: “THE LONG PATROL – AUSTRALIA & EAST TIMOR’S WARS” by Richard Plunkett (Black Dog Books 2008) $16.95
Since Timor Leste gained its independence in 1999, it seems that there is a never ending stream of books being written about the country. This is probably the case because not many thought that East Timor would
win against the Indonesian military – even those that supported its independence. The author identifies why this might be the case when early in his introduction, he states:

“There’s something about the little guy eventually winning against a bully that appeals to me..”

At the independence celebrations in Dili on 20 May 2002, the then Secretary – General of the UN, Kofi Annan,

when congratulating the East Timorese and praising their resistance, stated that the UN personnel assisting the East Timorese to gain their freedom had been one of the most popular exercises undertaken by the world body.

For those who have not read much about Timor, this is a very good book to start. Richard Plunkett has managed to give the reader a very good overview of the various key phases of the Indonesian military (TNI) occupation and the betrayal of western countries – especially Australia. eg

* the civil war between UDT and FRETILIN

* the early TNI incursions including the murder of 5 western journalists at Balibo

* the various strategies adopted by the TNI and the FALANTIL and RENETIL resistance

* the key massacres perpetrated by the TNI

* Australia’s reluctant role to force the TNI out after the massacres following the referendum for independence in 1991

He also provides some very important historical background. eg

* the support given by the East Timorese to Australian commandos during World War 2

* the end of European colonialism after World War 2

* Indonesia’s struggle for independence

* political changes in Portugal and its colonies that led to the Carnation Revolution and the overthrow of the Salazar/Caetano fascist dictatorship

* the influence of the Cold War on events in Indonesia and East Timor

This is a book that would be particularly useful for secondary students. Plunkett’s writing style is very easy to follow; he has highlighted many quotes from key people and he has included good maps and a very useful
bibliography, a glossary, a timeline and an index.

Overall, I found this book to be an excellent read. It does include some minor mistakes, however, in terms of dates of some of the key events. My greatest criticism, though is the author’s approach to the issues of the Cold War and the Indonesian background. I think that he could have devoted some more space to these important issues.
Plunkett refers to the TNI major argument for invading was that there were a few left wingers in FRETILIN.

I felt this arguement could easily be countered by mentioning that at the time, there were also many left wingers in the ALP. This could not seriously have been used as an argument for the TNI to invade Australia and was a very weak argument. Nevertheless, it was parrotted bymany Indonesian apologists and conservative politicians in both of Australia’s major political parties. so why do so many give credence to this argument?

Another TNI argument that should have been challenged is that they intervened because of thge civil war in East Timor.
As Richard Plunkett states in his book, pro FRETILIN forces had essentially defeated UDT within 10 days of theUDT commencement of hostilities (10 August 1975). When Indonesia began its invasion in October 1975, the civil war had been over by about 2 months.
In the Indonesian background, Plunkett does not mention that many Australian soldiers also fought alongside Indonesian partisans during World War 2. These were the backbone of Indonesia’s resistance against the Dutch
military when it returned to reclaim its colony. I think that it is important to be aware that both Sukarno and Suharto fought with the Imperial Japanese Army against the Allies.
Many Indonesians believe that they would not have achieved their independence had it not been for those Australian soldiers, who gave them assistance during the fight against Japanese fascism and supported the early work of the Indonesian independence activists. Then, between 1945 – 49, members of the Australian union movement maintained bans on materials being sent to Indonesia by the Dutch government in its attempt to crush Indonesia’s independence movement. When Suharto overthrew Sukarno in 1965, many of its victims in the first year of the dictatorship, apart from
Balinese, Chinese, PKI (Indonesian Communist Party) members, trade unionists, members of human rights groups etc. were those Indonesians who fought alongside Australian soldiers. Amnesty International claimed that between half to a million people died in 1965. Many Indonesians say the figure is nearer 3 million.
I thought it a little disappointing that there was no mention of the role of the CIA in Suharto’s 1965 coup. This agency gave the names of thousands of political activists to the military so that they could eliminate them. To understand Suharto’s Indonesia, it is important to raise the fact that his dictatorship was a client state of the USA – both for military purposes and for access to regional resources. This also raises questions about the TNI brutality and corruption in other parts of the region apart from East Timor. Who exploits the resources and the local people and who benefits from the
exploitation? Some clear examples are West Papua, Acheh and Malaku (the Moluccas).

If younger generations are to understand the key problems in our region of the world, any analysis needs to critically examine these aspects of the Indonesian occupation of East Timor.