-Caveat Lector-
TWO HUNDRED ?!?!
----Original Message Follows----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Rich Winkel)
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: RIGHTS: Clinton Sending 200 US Troops to East Timor
Date: Sat, 18 Sep 1999 01:02:43 -0500 (CDT)
/** ips.english: 472.0 **/
** Topic: RIGHTS: Clinton Sending 200 US Troops to East Timor **
** Written 9:09 PM Sep 16, 1999 by newsdesk in cdp:ips.english **
Copyright 1999 InterPress Service, all rights reserved.
Worldwide distribution via the APC networks.
*** 16-Sep-99 ***
Title: RIGHTS: Clinton Sending 200 US Troops to East Timor
By Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON, Sep 16 (IPS) - US President Bill Clinton, insisting
that ''fundamental (US) values'' were at stake in East Timor,
Thursday ordered 200 US troops to take part in the UN peacekeeping
force to restore order to the devastated territory.
''Our fundamental values are at stake in East Timor,'' he said in
a brief TV address, adding that about half of the US force would
help co-ordinate communications, logistics, intelligence, and
airlifts of troops and supplies from other countries participating
in the East Timor operation.
The rest would be based in Darwin, Australia, according to
Pentagon officials. Australias troops are leading the operation
in East Timor.
''Of course, on any mission like this, there are dangers and
risks of casualties,'' Clinton said. ''But this force is well-
equipped for the job, and it is a job that is in the interests of
peace and stability.''
Clinton's announcement came amid reports from Dili, East
Timor's capital, that the Indonesian army had begun to clear out
pro-Indonesian militia units which had terrorised the former
Portuguese colony since voters opted for independence Aug 30.
Reports from a variety of sources indicated that many militias
members, who were organised and supported by the Indonesian army,
were leaving the territory for West Timor.
Still, some militia leaders issued threats against the
peacekeeping force, which would comprise about 7,500 troops, the
majority of them Australian.
Despite the small number of troops contributed by Washington,
the US military is expected to play major role in transporting
soldiers and supplies from other nations to East Timor and Darwin,
which would be the main supply base for the peacekeeping force.
More than a dozen nations were expected to contribute troops,
who will be under the command of Australian Maj. Gen. Peter
Cosgrove. The deputy commander will be a Thai general, according
to the United Nations.
Australia ironically was the only country to recognise
Indonesian sovereignty over East Timor after Indonesian troops
imnvaded the territory in 1975. But it is sending 4,500 troops to
lead the UN force, the advance party expected to arrive in Dili
Saturday, to be followed by 2,500 Australian soldiers Monday.
Other major contributors of troops include Thailand, the
Philippines, New Zealand, Malaysia, South Korea, France, Italy,
Britain, and Canada. In addition, Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil,
China, Fiji, Pakistan, Norway, Singapore, and Sweden have offered
to provide soldiers, police or medical personnel for the
operation, according to the United Nations.
It remained unclear precisely how the peacekeeping force would
work with Indonesian forces that stayed in East Timor although the
Indonesian army commander in the territory, Gen. Kiki Syahnakri,
was reported as saying that Jakarta would begin withdrawing its
troops as early as this weekend.
Senior Australian and Indonesian military officers have began
meetings in New York about how the two forces will co-ordinate.
But the government of Indonesian President B.J. Habibie announced
Thursday that it was abrogating a four-year-old security treaty
with Canberra to protest Australia's role in pushing for a
peacekeeping force to be sent to the island.
The early dispatch of the peacekeepers was deemed essential to
saving the lives of hundreds of thousands of East Timorese who
were forced by the militias to flee their homes into the remote
hills and mountains of the territory after the vote.
Without adequate supplies of water or food, many of these
people were at risk of starvation and disease, according to
humanitarian agencies. There is also growing concern about the
fate of more than 120,000 other Timorese who were forcibly
transported across the border to West Timor where most are living
in camps reportedly controlled by the militias.
The US branch of Amnesty International Thursday called for
Washington to demand that Indonesia permit independent human
rights monitors to gain access to the those camps and ensure that
monitors also enter East Timor with the peacekeeping force to
document the abuses that have taken place in the past two weeks.
Thousands of people are believed to have been killed by the
militias and the army in the aftermath of the vote. Many of the
victims were students, pro-independence activists, and residents
of neighbourhoods and villages opposed to Indonesian rule.
While calm was being restored Thursday to Dili, which was
largely de-populated and burned to the ground during the violence,
many observers were worried that army-backed forces had turned
their fury on the rural population where there is no international
presence.
''East Timorese people now in the countryside are facing
extermination,'' wrote Archbishop Carlos Belo, the Roman Catholic
bishop of Dili, in a letter to the Washington Post. He urged ''an
immediate massive humanitarian relief effort'' and the immediate
dispatch of peacekeepers throughout the territory.
Belo, who won the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts on
behalf of his parishioners, was forced to flee East Timor early
last week after gangs invaded and destroyed his residence.
Clinton's announcement followed days of intense consultations
between the administration and Congress and appeared to have the
backing of most lawmakers, both Republican and Democrat.
Some legislators last week accused the administration of not
reacting early or forcefully enough to the violence in East Timor
once it had become clear that the army was supporting it. Still
others warned Clinton against committing any US troops to a
territory where Washington has no vital interest at risk.
In the end, by threatening drastic economic sanctions against
Jakarta if it did not accept a peacekeeping force, while assuring
lawmakers that US combat troops would not be deployed to East
Timor, Clinton appeared to have satisfied all sides.
(END/IPS/jl/mk/99)
Origin: ROMAWAS/RIGHTS/
----
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