Alpha1Nine :funkwhale: :sofia:<p>Intelligence documents, declassified by the US, shed light on the turbulent events surrounding the 1999 independence referendum in <a href="https://aus.social/tags/TimorLeste" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TimorLeste</span></a>, when Indonesian-backed <a href="https://aus.social/tags/MilitiaGangs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>MilitiaGangs</span></a> went on a murderous rampage across the country.</p><p>The documents back claims that it was the US — and not Australia — that ultimately forced <a href="https://aus.social/tags/Indonesia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Indonesia</span></a> to accept <a href="https://aus.social/tags/peacekeepers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>peacekeepers</span></a> into the country and uphold the referendum result, where an overwhelming 78.5 per cent of Timorese voted for <a href="https://aus.social/tags/independence" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>independence</span></a>.</p><p>They also suggest Australia did not support or plan for a peacekeeping mission until the very last minute, and only after the US had succeeded in forcing Indonesia to respect the independence vote and stop the escalating violence by pro-integration militias against the Timorese people.</p><p>Nowhere in the documents is there any sign that <a href="https://aus.social/tags/Australia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Australia</span></a> actively pressured the US to take steps to protect the <a href="https://aus.social/tags/Timorese" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Timorese</span></a>, despite the worsening violence and evidence that Indonesia's armed forces were supporting or even working alongside the militia groups.</p><p>The intelligence documents serve to dispel the Howard Government's own narrative that has receded anyway.</p><p>For years after the referendum, John Howard maintained that the "liberation" of Timor Leste was one of his proudest achievements as prime minister, alongside the gun buyback scheme.</p><p>Professor Clinton Fernandes at the University of NSW was in 1999 the principal intelligence analyst for East Timor at the Australian Theatre Joint Intelligence Centre (ASTJIC) in Sydney. He says Australia's stance at the time had the effect of "providing diplomatic cover to the Indonesian military's activities".</p><p>Timor-Leste's <a href="https://aus.social/tags/freedom" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>freedom</span></a> fight<br>Twenty years after the Timorese people overwhelming backed independence in a UN-sanctioned vote on August 30, 1999, members of the Australian-Timorese community reflect on their role in the country's fight for freedom.</p><p>"Howard and Downer went out of their way to absolve the TNI," he said.</p><p>"These cables essentially confirm that the Howard government's policy was to keep Timor in Indonesia. And at the end it was forced to <a href="https://aus.social/tags/backflip" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>backflip</span></a>," he said.</p><p>The Australian cables at the time show Australian intelligence analysts had overwhelming evidence as early as April 1999 — contrary to what Mr Downer was saying — that the Indonesian military was arming the militia units, and that these links went to the top of the army, namely the armed forces chief General Wiranto. </p><p><a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-29/declassified-us-intelligence-documents-sheds-light-timor-leste/11459284" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">abc.net.au/news/2019-08-29/dec</span><span class="invisible">lassified-us-intelligence-documents-sheds-light-timor-leste/11459284</span></a></p>